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WA TER POLO A T THE NEW YORK A THLET1C CLUB. 



THE OUT OF DOOR 
LIBRARY * ^ ■* <* 



ATHLETIC 
SPORTS 



D. A. SARGENT, M.D. 
H.J. WHIGHAM 
ROBERT D. IVRENN 
P. G. HUBERT, JR. 



BY 

- MARGUERITE MERINGTON 
J. WEST ROOSEVELT, M.D. 
DUFF1ELD OSBORNE 
EDWARD S. MARTIN 



mm a 

CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 

1897 



\ 



Of 



Copyright, 1897, by 
Charles Scribner's Sons. 



TYPOGRAPHY BY C J. PETERS & SON. 
PRINTED BY BRAUNWORTH, MUNN & BARBER. 



NOTE. 

The chapters in this volume have 
appeared at different times in Scrib- 
ner's Magazine, and having been re- 
vised by their authors, are published 
now for the first time in book form. 



CONTENTS 



i 

PAGE 

The Physical Proportions of the Typical Man* 3 

By D. A. SARGENT, M.D. 

II 

Physical Characteristics of the Athlete* ... 51 

By D. A. SARGENT, M.D. 

Ill 

Golf 107 

By H. J. WHIGHAM. 

{Amateur Champion of the U.S. in i8q6») 

IV 
Lawn Tennis 155 

By ROBERT D. WRENN. 

{Champion of the U.S. in l8g(>.) 

V 

'Bicycling — 

The Wheel of To-Day 175 

By P. G. HUBERT, JR. 

Woman and the Bicycle 211 

By MARGUERITE MERINGTON. 

A Doctor's View of "Bicycling 221 

By J. WEST ROOSEVELT, M.D. 

* Prepared for publication in 1887. 
vii 



Contents 

VI 

PAGE 

Surf and SurJ '-'Bathing . . 237 

By DUFFIELD OSBORNE. 
VII 

Country Clubs and Hunt Clubs in America . 273 

By EDWARD S. MARTIN. 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

Water Polo at the New York Athletic Club . . Frontispiece 

The Physical Proportions of the Typical Man — 

Figure i. Method of Testing the Strength of the Chest and 

Triceps Page 3 

Figure 2. Method of Testing the Strength of the Back and 

L ^s 5 

Figure 3. Method of Testing the Strength of the Forearms 

and Hands . . . . . . . . 7 

Figure A 11 

Figure B 14 

Chart I, Plotted from the originals of Figures A and B . 16 

Figure C. ■ . . . . . . . . .19 

Figure D. .......... 23 

Figure E 27 

Chart II. Plotted from Figures C, D, and E . . .29 

Figure F 31 

Figure G. 35 

Figure H. 39 

Chart III. Plotted from Figures F, G, and H . 44 

Physical Characteristics of the Athlete — 

Figure 1. (See description on page 53) . . 51 

Figure 2. .......... 53 

Chart I. Showing the comparative Measuretnettts of the 

Athletic and non-Athletic Classes . . 54 

Figtire 3 55 

Figure 4. . . . . . . . . • 57 

Chart II. Plotted from Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4 . . .58 

Figure $a 61 

Figure 5^. (See description, page 61) 63 

Figure 6a ..«,.. 65 

ix 



Figure 6b. (See description on page 65) 
Chart III. Plotted from Figures 5 and 6 

Figure 7 

Figure &a 

Figure Sb. (See description, page 72) . 
Chart IV. Plotted from Figures 7 and 8 
Figure 9. ..... 

Figure 10. . . . , . 

Figure 11 a 

Figure lib. (See description, page 80) 
Chart V. Plotted from Figures 9, 10, and 

Figures 12 and 13 

Chart VI. Plotted from Figures 12 and 13 
Figure 14. ...... 

Figure 15a. ...... 

Figure 15^. (See description, page %<$) , 

Figure 16a 

Figure 16b. (See description, page 95) 

Figure\6c. (See description, page 95) . 

Chart VII. Plotted from Figures 14, 15, #?za? 16 



Z.&H? 0/" Illustrations 

Page 66 
68 



70 
72 
73 
74 
77 
79 
80 
81 
82 

83 
86 



91 
95 
97 
99 
102 



Go//— 

Shinnecock Hills Golf Club ....... 107 

Plan of Newport Golf Club-house . . . . . . 108 

^4 Clean Miss 109 

Uncertain Arithmetic . . . . . . . . HO 

Willie Dunn" 1 s Shop at Shinnecock . . . . . .111 

The Drive 113 

Fore! . . . . . c . . . . -115 

Leg Wrappings . , . . . . . . .117 

Temper 120 

Farmhouse formerly used as a Club-house by the Chicago Golf 

Club 121 

Lost Ball iti the Meadow 122 

Topped .323 

Four Strokes at the Bunker and not over yet . . . 125 

Smoking-room of the Essex County (Mass.) Club . . . 126 

Essex County (Mass.) Club Entrance 127 

x 



List of Illustrations 

On the Green ......... Page 129 

Enthusiasm . . .no 

Wasted Time . . . . . . . - . . .131 

Playing as if He owned the Green . . . . . . *33 

The Golf -Links at Tttxedo . . . . . . . 135 

Stymie or not Stymie? . . . . . . . .137 

A Good Lie . 139 

The St. Andrews Club, Yonkers, N.Y. . . . . .140 

A Foozle ' 144 

Tail-piece .152 

Lawn Tennis — 

Fore-hand Volley . . . . „ . . . 155 

The Smash ......... 157 

Fore-handed Service . . '. . . . . , 159 

Reverse Over-hand Service . . . . . . .160 

End of Under-hand Twist Service ...... 162 

Fore-hand Stroke . . .163 

End of a Back-hand Stroke, off the Ground .... 165 

The Cut 167 

Back-hand Volley ......... 168 

Back-hand Half Volley . 169 

Half Volley Backward .171 

bicycling . The Wheel of To-'Dqy — 

Head-piece . . . . . . , „ . . 175 

The Grand Circle at Fifty-ninth Street and Eighth Avemie, 

New York . 179 

The Start from the Westchester Country Club . . 185 

Claremont Hill — Riverside Drive, New York . , .189 

At the Michaux Club, New York . . . . . .197 

Tea at the Michaux Club ....... 203 

Woman and the ^Bicycle — 

Correct Position . . . . „ c . , .211 
A Gibson Bicycle Girl . . . . . . . .213 

Correct Position .216 

A "Scorcher" — Wrong Position 217 

xi 



List of Illustrations 

A Doctor 's View of ^Bicycling — 

At Rest — Muscles of Arm, Body, and Neck Relaxed . Page 222 
In Action — Muscles of Neck, Shoulder, Arm, and upper parts 

of the Body Contracted 223 

A Side View of A. A. Zimmerman in Racing Position on a 

Wheel of His own Design . . ■ . . .225 

Rear View of Zimmerman — At Rest 227 

Rear View of Zimmerman — In Action . .... 229 

Surf and Surf-Bathing — 



Head-piece 








. 237 


Figure 1 . 








. 240 


Figure 2. 








. 243 


Figure 3. 








. 248 


Figure 4. 








. 251 


Figure 5. 








. 253 


Figure 6. 








. 255 


Figure 7. 








. 256 


Figure 8. 








. 257 


Figure 9. 








. 259 


Figure 10. 








. 262 


Figure 11. 








. 263 



Country Clubs and Hunt Clubs in America — 

Kennels and Stables of the Rockaway Hunt Club . . .273 

The Dining-room of the Rockaway Club 275 

After a Day's Run at Cedarhurst — The Rockaway Club . 277 

The Radnor Kennels 280 

A Corner of the Dining-hall 280 

The Radnor Hunt Club of Philadelphia quartered near Bryn 

Mawr 281 

Start of the Meadowbrook Club at Southampton . . . 285 
Waiting for the Word. (Meet of the Meadowbrook Hunt at 

Southampton, L.I. , in the Fall of '1891) .... 289 
Lunch on Race-day at the "Kennels," the Headquarters of the 

Elkridge, Md., Hunt Club 291 

The Start from the Kennels. The Elkridge, Md., Club . 293 

The Pack of the London, Ont., Club in fro7it of the Club-house, 297 
xii 



List of Illustrations 

Headquarters of the Green Spring Valley Hunt Club — The 

old Stone Tavern on the Reisterstown Turnpike, Baltimore 

County, Md Page 299 

Cross Country in the Genesee Valley. The Genesee Hunt 

Club 303 

Meet of the Meadowbrook Hunt at Mr. Theodore Roosevelt 's 

House, Oyster Bay, L.I. ....... 305 

A Meet of the Rockaway Hunt Club .... 308, 309 

The Button of the Montreal Club — The oldest organized 

Hunt Club in America . . . . . . . 311 

Taking the Hounds out for Exercise. The Genesee Hunt 

Club 312 

The Pack of the Myopia Hunt Club . . . . .314 

Where the Dogs are kept. The Genesee Hunt Club, Genesee, 

N.Y. . . . .315 

The Myopia Club-house at Hamilton, Mass 316 

Kennels of the Myopia Hunt Club . . . ■ . .318 



THE PHYSICAL PROPORTIONS 



OF THE TYPICAL MAN 



/ 



By D. A. Sargent, M.D. 




Fig. i . — Method of Testing the Strength of the Chest and Triceps. 




T no time in the history of 
our country has more atten- 
tion been given to the subject 
of physical training than is 
given to it at the present day. 
Schools, colleges, and Christian associa- 
tions are building costly gymnasia, while 
athletic organizations, ball-clubs, tennis- 
clubs, boat-clubs, etc., are forming in many 
of our towns and cities. 

Fifteen thousand dollars is expended 
annually to bring the Yale and Harvard 
boat-crews together at New London, and 
it is estimated that fifty thousand dollars 
does not meet the yearly expenses of the 
athletic organizations of these two univer- 
sities. Add to this sum the cost of athletic 



The Physical Proportions of the Typical Man 



sports to the smaller colleges and city clubs, 
and the total would foot up in the mil- 
lions. 

The object of this outlay is to vanquish 
some rival club, to win a championship, to 
beat the record, or to furnish recreation and 
amusement to those who are willing to pay 
for it. With the representatives of our in- 
stitutions of learning, and with a portion of 
the intelligent public, the object of the en- 
couragement given to athletics is to coun- 
teract the enervating tendency of the times, 
and to improve the health, strength, and 
vigor of our youth. 

This being the fact, the questions at once 
arise : How large a proportion of young 
men in the land systematically practise 
athletics ? 

Probably less than one per cent. 

How large a proportion of those who 
are members of athletic organizations take 
an active part in the sports fostered and 
patronized by their respective clubs ? 

Probably less than ten per cent. 

In the opinion of the writer, the cause 
for so little active interest in athletics is an 
increasing tendency with us, as a people, to 
pursue sport as an end in itself, rather than 
as a means to an end. 

In making excellence in the achieve- 



The Physical Proportions of the Typical Man 

ment the primary object of athletic exer- 
cises, we rob them of half their value in 
various ways : — 

( i . ) By increasing the expense of training. 
The money expended at the present day on 
an athletic team is greatly in excess of the 
amount spent upon the same number of 
men a few years ago. This increased ex- 
penditure may be attributed to the im- 
proved facilities demanded for practice, to 
the establishment of train- 
ing-tables, the employment 
of " coaches," or trainers, 
and special attendants, — the 
latter to anoint and rub the 
athletes, look after the boats, 
ground, running-tracks, etc., 
— to the purchase of uni- 
forms, the expenses of travel- 
ling, etc. A long purse is 
fully as essential to suc- 
cess in athletics as in war 
or politics. 

(n.) By increasing the 
time devoted to practice. 
In former years it was 
deemed advisable to prac- 
tise no sport out of season. 
At the present time it is 
found necessary to skate 

5 




Fig. 2 . — Method of 
Testing the Strength 
of Back and Legs. 



The Physical Proportions of the Typical Man 

in the summer, and to row and play ball 
in the winter months, in order to main- 
tain the high standard of excellence de- 
manded of those who would win prizes 
in these events. In fact, any athlete, to 
stand above mediocrity in his chosen sport, 
must keep in practice the greater portion 
of the year. So severe a tax is this upon 
the time and energies of those who are 
engaged in other occupations that it is 
quite impossible for them to attend to busi- 
ness ; consequently the attempt to make a 
business of sport is the first step in the di- 
rection of professionalism. It is a question, 
indeed, if many of our so-called amateurs, 
who devote so much of their time to the 
practice of athletics, do not belong to 
the professional class. In either case, the 
effect they have upon the practice of ath- 
letics is detrimental. 

(in.) By reducing the number of active 
competitors. A characteristic trait of hu- 
man nature is the desire to excel. Ex- 
cellence in one thing often presupposes 
excellence in another, though none knows 
better than the specialist in athletics how 
weak he is outside of his favorite sport. 
A man who gains the reputation of being 
a champion oarsman or tennis-player will 
in all probability confine his athletic ef- 



Tfie Physical Proportions of the Typical Man 

forts to his specialty, thinking it unwise to 
risk a well-earned reputation as an expert 
in one sport by dawdling with another. 
Moreover, so strong is this desire to be- 




Fig- 3 • — Method of Testing the Strength of the Forearms and Hands. 



come a skilful exponent of an art or sport 
which one has adopted as a pastime, that 
as soon as circumstances debar a man from 
the required amount of practice necessary 
to maintain a high degree of excellence, 
he is likely to withdraw from all active 
participation in the game. In this way 
the number of competitors in every sport 
is gradually reduced, until the actual prac- 
tice is left largely in the hands of a class 
of experts. 

(iv.) By relying upon natural resources 
rather than upon cultivated material. As 



The Physical Proportions of the Typical Man 

athletics approaches a higher standard the 
time required for development is necessa- 
rily lengthened. For this reason those who 
are naturally strong and vigorous, or who 
have inherited or acquired the qualifica- 
tions requisite to success in a given sport, 
are in great demand. The college clubs 
look to the academies, the academies to 
the schools, the schools to homes and 
firesides, to furnish candidates for athletic 
honors, while many of the city clubs are 
eager to absorb members from any source 
that is capable of supplying them with 
good athletic material. 

(v.) By depriving the non- athletic class of 
every incentive to physical exertion. So long 
as accomplishing a feat, winning a prize, 
and breaking a record, are the only objects 
of systematic physical training, a man who 
lacks the requisite qualifications of a suc- 
cessful athlete is likely to despair at the 
outset. Ask the members of any athletic 
organization why they do not take an ac- 
tive interest in the sports their club is sup- 
posed to foster, and you will be told that 
the standard is too high for them, that 
they cannot spare the time for practice, or 
that they are too light or too heavy, and 
would not be a credit to the club. 

In our colleges few men practise run- 

8 



The Physical Proportions of the Typical Man 

ning, rowing, ball-playing, etc., system- 
atically without a hope of becoming mem- 
bers of the " crew," " nine," or " eleven." 
" No chance for the prize " is considered 
a laudable excuse for neglecting many ad- 
mirable exercises, such as sparring, fencing, 
and jumping. 

In consequence of this erroneous idea as 
to the ultimate object for which all sports 
are encouraged, a small portion of the 
community are overdoing the practice of 
these valuable adjuncts to health and edu- 
cation, while the vast majority are not 
availing themselves of their advantages. 
In fact, the importance of winning an ath- 
letic victory is becoming so exaggerated in 
the minds of many young men, that some 
of them have already resorted to unscru- 
pulous methods as a means to the much- 
desired end. 

Many men fail to realize that the real 
value of athletics is in the preparatory 
training, not in the contest or in the prize. 
Long before the day of trial, unseen forces 
are at work building up a structure fit to 
stand the test and to make a noble effort 
for the victory. Whether the coveted 
prize be won or lost is of little importance 
compared to the prize in shape of an im- 
proved physique already in possession of 



The Physical Proportions of the Typical Alan 

those who have undergone a faithful course 
of training. 

(vi.) By arousing the spirit of antagonism 
and fostering viciousness and brutality. In 
all competitive sports that bring individuals 
into personal contact, such as wrestling, 
sparring, foot-ball, lacrosse, polo, etc., there 
is a constant tendency to roughness and 
brutality. The object being to " win at 
all hazards," the reason for the roughness 
is apparent. These sports without doubt 
furnish the best kind of general exercise 
for the body, and develop courage, manli- 
ness, and self-control. How to retain the 
good features, and to hold the evil ones in 
check, are the problems that are ever pres- 
ent to those who are interested in the 
preservation of these invigorating pastimes. 
They are worth perpetuating, and ought 
not to fall into disrepute for the want of a 
few friends to throw a protecting influence 
around them. Certain it is that as soon 
as brutality gains the ascendency gentle- 
men will cease to compete, and the sport 
will fall into decline. It is a question now 
in the minds of many whether some of 
these sports have not already reached a 
stage of deterioration in which, in the 
colleges at least, their future existence is 
threatened. 

10 



The Physical Proportions of the Typical Man 



(vii.) By depriving them of their efficacy 
as a means to health. An individual having 
this aim (excellence in the achievement) 
in view, and having decided upon a spe- 
cialty in athletics, at once proceeds to 
strengthen those muscles most used in his 
chosen sport. The runner 
or jumper develops his legs, 
the oarsman his legs and 
back, and the gymnast his 
arms, chest, and shoul- 
ders. The runner ar- 
gues that the heavier his 
body is above the hips, 
so much more of a bur- 
den is there for him to 
carry; the gymnast rea- 
sons in a similar way 
with regard to the weight 
of his body below the hips. 

There is a constant ten- 
dency on the part of special- 
ists to overdevelop a few 
sets of muscles, and to un- 
dervalue the importance 
of keeping the muscles 
all in a healthy condition. Consequently, 
through incompleteness of structure and a 
want of harmony in function, some local 
weakness is produced which sooner or later 




Figure A. 



The Physical Proportio?is of the Typical Man 

not only incapacitates the individual for 
any great mental or physical effort, but 
also renders him liable to disease. 

What is true of athletics to-day was 
equally true of gymnastics some fifteen or 
twenty years ago. Many of our college 
and city gymnasia were in the hands of a 
class of experts and specialists, who selected 
the apparatus as a means of exhibiting their 
strength and prowess rather than a means 
of physical culture and self-improvement. 
The weaker members, finding few forms 
of apparatus that were suited to their 
capacity, would stand idle, content with 
admiring the exploits of their more vig- 
orous companions. In fact, a man was 
made to feel that the gymnasium was no 
place for him unless he at least could turn a 
backward somersault, do the giant's swing, 
or hang by his toes. 

It would be foreign to my purpose to 
carry this discussion any further at the pres- 
ent time. My object has been merely to 
show that all sports, exercises, and pastimes, 
pursued as ends in themselves, are necessa- 
rily limited to a very small class, and con- 
stantly tend to degenerate. 

What, then, can be done to make physi- 
cal exercise more attractive to the masses, 
and to relieve our popular sports of some 



The Physical Proportions of the Typical Man 

of the evils that tend to degrade them ? I 
know of no better way of accomplishing 
this desirable end than by repeatedly re- 
minding the individual of the ultimate aim 
of every kind of physical exercise. Do 
not the harmonious development of the 
physique, and the building up and broad- 
ening out of the highest types of manhood 
and womanhood, offer an inducement to 
work for? 

This has been the theme of the philoso- 
phers and sages of all times. Every writer 
on education, from Plato to Herbert Spen- 
cer, has advocated physical activity as a 
means of attaining that full-orbed and 
harmonious development of all parts of 
the human economy so essential to robust, 
vigorous health. 

We have had no end of treatises on the 
sports, games, and gymnastic exercises that 
are reputed to give strength and symmetry 
to the body ; but, unfortunately, the wise 
and good men of old have left us no stand- 
ards by which to judge of symmetry or 
strength. The ancient masterpieces are 
models of symmetry and beauty, but they 
were made largely from ideal standards, 
certainly not from actual measurements ; 
while the miraculous exhibitions of strength 
attributed to some of the Grecian athletes 

13 



The Physical Proportions of the Typical Man 

must, in the light of the present day, be 
regarded as a trifle mythical. Is this love 
of symmetry in form a myth, or has it a 
deep moral significance ? I hold that it 
has not only a moral significance, but also 
a physiological significance, and that the 
size, shape, and structure of the 
body have a direct dynamic re- 
lation to all the vital organs, and 
appreciably influence the func- 
tions of the brain and nervous 
system. 

Aside from the investigations 
of the Provost-Marshal-General's 
Bureau, of the Sanitary Com- 
mission, on recruits during the 
late war, and of the Anthropo- 
metric Committee of the British 
Association for the Advancement 
of Science, but little systematic 
effort has been made to obtain 
reliable information by means of 
physical measurements. As 
to the actual size or propor- 
tions of the body at various 
ages and among different na- 
tionalities, there are absolutely no data to 
which we can turn for assistance in shaping 
the course of growth and development. 
True, there is an abundance of data on the 




Figure B. 



14 



The Physical Proportions of the Typical Man 



height, weight, and chest-girth of person- 
of different ages and nationalities, and the 
dimensions of other parts of the body have 
been taken at various times by artist anat- 
omists, military surgeons, and gymnasiarchs, 
yet no one system of measurements has ever 
been adopted by any two examiners ; on the 
contrary, each observer has taken measure- 
ments for a specific purpose, according to 
a system peculiar to himself, so that we 
look in vain for anything like harmony 
or congruity in the results obtained. In 
some cases the subjects are measured or 
weighed without clothing, and in others 
partly or completely clothed. In one 
class of measurements the height is taken 
with the boots on, in another class with 
the boots off, while by another observer 
the girth measurements are taken with the 
muscles contracted at one part of the body. 

What is most needed at the present day 
is a uniform system of measurements, and 
a common understanding among observers 
as to what points and under what condi- 
tions the various parts of the body are to 
be measured ; a great step will then be 
taken toward securing valuable anthropo- 
metric data. 

Having resolved some years ago to make 
physical training my profession, and be- 

15 



The Physical Proportion of the Typical Mat*. 



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16 



The Physical Proportions of the Typical Man 

lieving that all teaching should be preceded 
by inquiries into the " nature, capabilities, 
and requirements of the being to be taught/' 
I began a system of independent investi- 
gation with regard to the growth and de- 
velopment of the body under the various 
conditions of life. 

I was moved to this undertaking by the 
conviction that whatever might be the na- 
ture of the physical training pursued, the 
ultimate object should be the improvement 
of the individual. " The indispensable part 
of the experimental observation of physical 
facts," says a distinguished philosopher, "is 
the measurement of quantities." 

I resolved, therefore, to widen the range 
of observations, believing that on the sim- 
ple factors — weight, height, and chest- 
girth — could not be based a true estimate 
of one's physical condition. I had seen 
weight obtained at the expense of struc- 
ture, height at the expense of circumfer- 
ence, and the girth of the chest increased 
as the girth of the lower limbs diminished. 
I had found that increase of stature might 
be largely due to great length of neck and 
legs, with a comparatively short body, and 
that these proportions, which would indi- 
cate weakness rather than strength, could 
not be brought out by taking only the 

17 



The Physical Proportions of the Typical Man 

stature. Realizing how much depends 
upon the proportions of the different parts 
of the body, the comparative size of body 
and limbs, the difference between bone 
and muscle measurements, etc., I began 
my observations by an extended series of 
measurements. 

My next aim was to test the strength 
of the most important parts, so far as this 
was practicable. As a general rule, the 
girth of the upper arm may be said to 
represent the potential strength of the 
biceps and triceps muscles. So, too, the 
girth of the forearm, thigh, leg, or chest 
is usually indicative of the latent power 
of the muscles in that particular region. 
These facts are familiar to any schoolboy 
who has learned from his daily experiences 
to associate size with strength. There are 
many exceptions to this rule, however ; 
and the record of the tape-measure often 
needs to be confirmed by an actual strength 
test, In order to make these trials, I had 
recourse to three spring-dynamometers, a 
spirometer, manometer, a pair of suspended 
rings, and a set of parallel bars. With these 
appliances it is possible to test the strength 
of nearly every part of the body. I lim- 
ited these tests to the back, legs, chest, 
upper arm, and forearm, 

is 



The Physical Proportions of the Typical Man 

The strength of the back 
and legs was tested by a 
dynamometer (see Fig. 2). 
The strength of chest, tri- 
ceps, and back was deter- 
mined by the number of 
times that the subject could 
raise his weight between 
the parallel bars while sup- 
porting himself on his 
hands. The number of 
times a person, while 
holding on to the sus- 
pended rings, could raise 
his own weight by con- 
tracting the arms was the 
manner of testing the bi- 
ceps, chest, and upper 
back. The strength of the chest and tri- 
ceps of all who were unable to lift their 
own weight was tested by means of a dy- 
namometer constructed for the purpose 
(see Fig. 1). The strength of the fore- 
arms and hands was tested by a hand-dyna- 
mometer (see Fig. 3). The capacity of 
the lungs was determined by the number 
of cubic inches of air the individual could 
blow into a spirometer. The manometer 
was used to test the strength of lung-tissue 
and the force of the expiratory muscles. 

19 




Figure C. 



The Physical Proportions of the Typical Man 

In order to form some idea of the gen- 
eral strength of the individual, the results 
of the several tests were summed up. The 
amount represented the total strength so far 
as determined. I should add that, before 
summing up the result of the arm or chest 
tests, the number of times that a person had 
lifted himself either way was multiplied 
into a tenth of his weight, the object be- 
ing to credit each person with the number 
of foot-pounds lifted, rather than to reckon 
the number of times the body was raised, 
without regard to its weight. A tenth of 
the weight was decided upon in order to 
reduce the number of figures that would 
result from the multiplication. 

To add interest to the work, the girths 
of the head, chest (natural and inflated), 
waist, thighs, upper and forearms — these 
being the parts tested — were summed 
up. The difference between this amount, 
which was taken to represent the potential 
strength, and the amount found to repre- 
sent the actual strength, was termed the 
condition. 

In tabulating the first thousand measure- 
ments, the sum of the figures representing 
the potential strength and the sum of the 
figures representing the actual strength 
were found to correspond very closely in 



The Physical Proportions of the Typical Man 

healthy persons who had received no pre- 
paratory training. This fact, though really 
an accidental discovery, was made by con- 
struction a relative standard to work by. 
If the actual strength exceeded the poten- 
tial strength, the condition was marked 
plus the amount of the excess. If the 
actual strength fell short of the potential 
strength, the condition was marked minus 
the amount of the deficiency. 

In order to ascertain the influence of the 
various conditions of life upon the growth 
and development of the individual, answers 
to the following questions were solicited : 

Name or number. 

Class and department, or occupation. 

Age, yrs. ms. Birthplace. 

Nationality of father, mother. 

" " his father, her father. 

" " his mother, her mother. 

Occupation of father. 

If father is dead, of what did he die ? 

If mother is dead, of what did she die } 

Which of your parents do you most resemble ? 

What hereditary disease, if any, is there in your family ? 

Is your general health good ? 

Have you always had good health ? 

Check (y/) such of the following diseases as you may 

have had : — 

Asthma, Dizziness, Gout, Pleurisy, Palpitation of the 
Heart, Pneumonia, Habitual Constipation, Bronchitis, 
Dyspepsia, Rheumatism, Shortness of Breath, Headache, 
Varicose Veins, Spitting of Blood, Chronic Diarrhoea, 
Dysentery, Neuralgia, Jaundice, Piles, Liver Complaint, 
Paralysis. 

What injuries have you received ? 

What surgical operation have you undergone ? 



The Physical Proportions of the Typical Man 



It frequently happened that answers to 
these questions would account for some pe- 
culiarity of development or some deficiency 
in the size of body or limbs, or for ex- 
treme muscular weakness, that could not 
otherwise be explained. Immediately be- 
fore and after the strength-tests the heart 
and lungs were examined by auscultation 
and percussions, and any peculiarities noted. 
The information obtained from the physi- 
cal examination just described, in connec- 
tion with the history of the individual and 
the many facts brought out by personal 
observation, served as a basis for advice. 

At the time the system I am now dis- 
cussing was inaugurated, the gymnasium 
was wholly inadequate to meet the de- 
mands of at least two-thirds of the pupils 
who came under my observation. Most 
of them had discovered this fact for them- 
selves, and had let the gymnasium and its 
apparatus severely alone. The tendency to 
specialism already alluded to had served to 
make the gymnasium distasteful to many 
who wished to use it, but who had neither 
the ability nor inclination to perform the 
feats usually practised on the old-style ap- 
paratus. In order to make the gymna- 
sium serviceable to a larger portion of the 
community, and especially to those most 



22 



The Physical Proportions of the Typical Man 

needing its advantages, it seemed necessary 
that a new system of apparatus should be 
introduced, and a new spirit infused into 
the institution. With this aim in view, 
I devised a system of appliances designed 
to develop the different parts of the body, 
and to be adjusted to the strength of the 
strong or the weakness of the weak. 

In introducing these mechanical devices 
into the gymnasium, I made a radical de- 
parture from one of the traditions that had 
governed physical education in 
the past. The idea had become 
thoroughly established in the 
community, that in order to be 
beneficial, physical exercise must 
be interesting. Physiologists and 
writers on education have given 
the weight of their testimony 
to this opinion, and it is quite 
difficult to convince many 
persons at the present day that 
the value of exercise is not 
solely dependent upon 
its being made pleasing 
and attractive in itself. 

If a walk, run, game 
of ball, or system of 
gymnastic training, 
does not accord with 




23 



The Physical Proportions of the Typical Man 

our inclinations, we are likely to enter into 
it with less spirit, and consequently to reap 
less benefit. But let it be understood that 
exercise itself is beneficial, however dis- 
agreeable or distasteful. If the effort is 
made, the physiological effects of exercise 
are realized. Old tissue is broken down 
and new tissue demanded to take its place, 
and in answer to this demand the vital 
functions are increased. All physical ex- 
ercises, however pleasant at first, tend to 
become irksome and distasteful when pur- 
sued systematically day after day ; but the 
very energy that one is obliged to put forth 
in overcoming this distaste is a wholesome 
discipline. Having recognized the fact 
that physical exercise is necessary, and that 
the exercise is best which best meets one's 
individual needs, a man should pursue it 
with all the energy that he is capable of 
throwing into any other duty. By so doing, 
the training of the will is added to the 
training of the body, and the lesson learned 
in abnegation and self-mastery contributes 
the most important elements to the forma- 
tion of character. Add to these attain- 
ments a correct method of working and a 
healthy habit of living, and the young man 
will have had the best kind of preparatory 
training for the business of life. 

24 



The Physical Proportions of the Typical Man 

The undergoing of present hardship for 
the sake of future gain is one of the most 
encouraging features connected with ath- 
letic sports and games. That the partici- 
pants may be in the best physical condition 
at the day of the contest, they are obliged 
to undergo a long and arduous course of 
training, denying themselves luxuries, fore- 
going pleasures, and holding themselves 
down to a rigid system of mechanical 
exercises for an ultimate object, — the 
winning of a foot-race, boat-race, or a ball- 
game. If one man in a hundred will prac- 
tise self-denial, and undergo hardship, in 
order to win a prize in a fleeting pastime, 
is it not an insult to the remaining ninety- 
nine to assume that they have not suffi- 
cient morale to make a similar effort in 
preparing to win the higher prize of life ? 

After obtaining the measurements of a 
thousand individuals, ranging from sixteen 
to thirty years of age, I tabulated them 
according to age, and sought to obtain the 
average height, weight, chest-girth, etc., 
as indicated in the list previously described. 
The averages thus obtained have been used 
as a working basis up to the present time. 
Immediately after the examination of the 
individual, he was furnished with a book 

25 



The Physical Proportions of the Typical Man 

or card in which his measurements at the 
parts specified were compared with those 
of the average man of the same age. If 
a measurement fell below the average, the 
fact would be indicated by the minus sign 
following it; if the measurement exceeded 
that of the average, it would be shown by 
the plus sign. 

The interest manifested in physical ex- 
aminations by the public at large during 
the last few years, and the adoption of my 
methods and standards of measurement in 
several institutions of learning, have ena- 
bled me to collect sufficient data to form a 
more reliable basis for deductions concern- 
ing the human figure, male and female, 
and to offer a more attractive form of ex- 
pressing these deductions. 

Every one who has attempted to draw- 
any conclusion from the measurements of 
the body must have realized the need of 
some guide that would show at a glance, 
not only the relative standing of one indi- 
vidual as compared with another, but also 
the relation of every part of the individ- 
ual to every other part. Unless these facts 
are known, all estimates of the physical 
ability or capacity of a man are simply 
matters of opinion. One person may be 

26 



The Physical Proportio?is of tlie Typical Man 



above another in height, and below him in 
weight. The significance of the fact lies 
in the degree of the difference. Then, 
again, the same man may be above the 
normal in one measurement, and below the 
normal in another. The extent of the va- 
riation is the desirable thing to know. In 
one instance this variation might not ex- 
ceed the physiological limits ; in another 
instance it might result in a deformity. 
These differences are but vaguely suggested 
when expressed in figures ; yet 
it is futile to tell a person that 
he is above or below the aver- 
age without indicating the 
degree, or informing him 
of its significance. 

The object of the chart 
(see Charts I., II., III.) is 
to meet this difficulty, and 
to furnish the youth of 
both sexes with a laudable 
incentive to systematic and 
judicious physical training, by 
showing them, at a glance, 
their relation in size, strength, 
symmetry, and development to 
the normal standard, as de- 
duced from the measurements 
of ten thousand individuals, 




27 



The Physical Proportions of the Typical Man 

ranging from seventeen to thirty years of 
age. 

The reference tables, of which this 
chart is a reduced skeleton, are the result 
of seventeen years' observation. The de- 
ductions have been drawn from measure- 
ments taken largely from the student class 
of the community. 

The tables for females have been made 
up from measurements taken by trained 
assistants at the principal female colleges. 

The parts at which the observations 
were made are indicated by the list at the 
left side of the chart. 

The perpendicular lines divide into 
classes all of the measurements for each 
part that were surpassed or unsurpassed by 
given percentages of the persons examined, 
as shown by the figures at the top of the 
chart. The upper number at the top of 
a perpendicular line shows the per cent 
that at each part surpassed the class in- 
dicated by that line. The lower number 
shows the per cent that at each part failed 
to surpass that class. The small per cent 
that exactly represented that class at any 
part — varying as it did with the per cent 
of that class at every other part, and with 
the per cent of every other class at every 
part — is not separately taken into account. 

28 



Die Physical Proportions of the Typical Ma?i 



DATE 

AGE 

WEIGHT 

HEIGHT 
•• Knee. 
" Sitting 
» Pyhie Areh 
« Sternum 

GIRTH. Hud 
« Nech 

- Cheat, Repot* 

■■ Full 
•' Wait! 
" Hip* 
" RThigh 
«. t , .. 

'• R.Kne* 
.. t . - 

- R. Calf 

- 1. • 

• R. Instep 

" I. " 

•• R. Upper Arm 

- 1. " " 

- R. Elbow 
« L » 

" R. Forearm 
.. t . .. 

" R.WrlM 

«■ L. » 
DEPTH. Chest 

Abdomen 
BREADTH. Head 

" Neck 

" Shoulders 

" Waiat 

" Hip. 
LENGmRShoald Elb. 

- IS - « 
" RXIbowTip 

- C - " 
" RFooi 

" i,. - 
•• Horiionta! 

STRETCH or Arm. 

CAPACITY of Ung. 

STRENGTH of Lung. 

e«di 

teg. 
Chen 

* U.ATD1 

forearm 

* TOTAL 
DEVELOPMENT 
VISION 
HEARING 


Above 


V 


«JO 


£0 


70 


60 


50 


40 


30 


20 


10 


3 


About 


Below 




5 


1 





J 


.0 


2 





A 





5 





£ 


o 


7 





SO 


1 


o 


1 


5 


Below 






- 1 - 










J - 






mL 




J - 


J " 


























i 


















































i 








, 


-' 










































J 










^ 






































































































. 


.- 


' 














































2" 




















































* 


-- 


. %| 
























































~ 


- 


- 


._ 


l 






















































■' 


'- 


-. 


_ 


































































































" 






























































































~" 


-. 


.. 
















































, 


.- 


" 










































.- 


-- 


■" 
































































































































































































































































































































































































,' 


^* 








































.- 






" 
































































































































































l v 


L 




















































■~" 


























































































































































































/' 




















































u 






























































„ 




























































































„ 


.- 


- 


•" 












































», 








































































































'' 


















































i 
























































». 


. 








































































































' 






































































































"*" 


»« 


„ 
























































'- 


-.. 


._ 




























































































































































































































































































-- 


















































~- 


-. 




















































~" 





































































































































































Chart II-, f lotted from figures C, D, and E. 

29 



The Physical Proportiotis of the Typical Man 

The reference tables from which this 
chart is made give all the figures repre- 
senting the measurements of the fifty-one 
classes for either sex. These figures are 
placed where the perpendicular lines in- 
tersect the lines leading from the parts 
measured. 

The perpendicular line in the centre of 
the chart is the normal or typical line ; 
i. e., the line that was represented at each 
part by a larger per cent of the persons 
examined than was any other line at any 
other part. 

The class marked "minimum" and the 
class marked "maximum" were each rep- 
resented at every part by about one-twen- 
tieth of one per cent of all the persons 
examined. 

After a few moments' study, it will read- 
ily be seen that the uses of the chart are 
numerous, showing the relation of the in- 
dividual to the normal standard, the rela- 
tion which every part of the individual 
bears to every other part, and suggesting 
many other comparisons of interest. 

That the unit of measurement should 
be as small as possible, owing to the ten- 
dency of many observers to record a meas- 
urement at the nearest whole number, the 
metric system was adopted. 

30 



The Physical Proportions of the Typical Man 

In computing the normal height, weight, 
and chest-girth, I used, simply for com- 
parison with and in verification of my own 
deductions, data compiled from various 
sources, representing over a million meas- 
urements of each of these parts. 

The directions for the use 
of the chart are very simple : 
To find the standing of an in- 
dividual in relation to the 
total number examined, 
ascertain which one of 
the perpendicular lines, 
at its junction with the 
horizontal line, is inter- 
sected by the dotted line 
indicating his standing. 
For instance, if his line, 
at its junction with the 
horizontal line leading 
from the weight, Jnter- 
sect the perpendicular line 
immediately under the 
figure 20, it would indi- 
cate that 80 per cent of 
all those examined sur- 
passed him in weight, while the comple- 
ment of this, or 20 per cent, failed to sur- 
pass him. 

If, however, his line, where it intersects 

3* 




Figure F. 



The Physical Proportions of the Typical Man 

the line of measurement, fall on the line 
at the right or left of one of the num- 
bered perpendicular lines, add or subtract 
2i per cent, unless it fall outside of either 
the figure 10 or 90, in which case but \\ 
per cent should be reckoned. 

As a rule, all the measurements of a 
small person fall to the left, and all the 
measurements of a large person fall to the 
right, of the normal line. 

If strong for his age, weight, height, or 
development, the part of his line that in- 
dicates the strength will be on the right of 
the part that indicates the age, weight, or 
measurement. 

Symmetry will be determined by the de- 
gree to which his line approaches the per- 
pendicular. 

Asymmetry ', by the extent to which his 
line departs from the perpendicular. 

To ascertain his development as compared 
with others, observe the intersection of his 
line with the lines of muscle measure- 
ments. 

His development, as compared with his 
capacity for development, will be shown 
by the difference between the muscle meas- 
urements and the bone measurements for 
corresponding parts ; as the knee, elbow, 
wrist, etc. 

32 



The Physical Proportions of the Typical Mail 

Figs. A, B, represent a young man of 
English descent, twenty-three years of age, 
weight, 149 pounds, and height 5 feet 6 
inches. 

Upon referring to Chart I.,* where his 
measurements have been plotted, the rela- 
tive standing of the young man as com- 
pared with the total number examined is 
readily observed, as well as the relation 
which every part of the individual bears 
to every other part. 

His line, at its juncture with the hori- 
zontal line leading from the age, falls to the 
right of the perpendicular line immediately 
under the figure 85. This indicates that 
1 2J per cent of all those examined sur- 
passed him in years, while the comple- 
ment of this, or 87J per cent, failed to 
surpass him. 

The weight falls in the 82J per cent 
and the height in the 20 per cent class. 
The height of knee and pubic arch falls 
to the left, and the sitting height and 
height of sternum fall to the right of the 
line indicating the full stature. This dis- 
crepancy indicates that his diminutive 



* This chart is obviously limited in its application to those 
who have been examined according to the system of measure- 
ments herein described. More explicit directions will be fur- 
nished by the author to any one desiring to pursue the same 
method. 

33 



The Physical Proportions of the Typical Man 

stature is due to the shortness of the lower 
extremities, and that the upper part of the 
legs is too short for the lower part. 

The girth of head is above the 85 per 
cent line, and the girth of the neck and 
chest above the 97J per cent line. 

The measurements of the waist and hips 
fall off a little proportionally from those 
of the chest ; but it will be observed that 
all of the girths are unusually large for the 
height, indicating a fine muscular develop- 
ment. 

The depth of chest and abdomen, and 
the breadth of the head, neck, waist, and 
hips, are relatively small ; but the breadth 
of the shoulders approaches very near to 
the maximum. 

The length of the upper arm is a trifle 
short, as shown by the measurements from 
the shoulder to the elbow. The forearm 
and hand are also below the normal in 
length, but slightly longer in proportion 
than the upper arm. The left forearm 
and hand are half a centimetre shorter than 
the right. This difference is made appar- 
ent by the variation in the points denoting 
the right and left elbow-tips. There is 
also a discrepancy in the length of the 
feet. 

His horizontal length is about the same 

34 



The Physical Proportions of the Typical Man 

as the height ; while the stretch of arms 
is appreciably greater, reaching, as it does, 
to the 50 per cent line. This may seem 
slightly paradoxical, as the length of the 
forearm and upper arm is below the aver- 
age, but the increased extension 
of the arms, when measured 
horizontally from finger- 
tip to finger-tip, is due 
to the great breadth of 
the shoulders. The ca- 
pacity and strength of 
lungs, though fairly good, 
are not what might be 
expected from the prom- 
inence of the chest meas- 
urements. Referring to 
the accompanying illus- 
trations, however (Figs. 
A and B, back and side 
views), we find that 
the large chest-girth 
is undoubtedly due 
to the development 
of the chest-muscles, 

" Figure G. 

and to those of the upper 
back, while the region below the nipples 
is somewhat narrow and contracted. It 
will also be observed that the girth of the 
chest (full) is proportionately below that of 

35 




The Physical Proportions of the Typical Man 

the chest in repose. This indicates that 
the power of inflation is less than it ought 
to be. 

The strength of the back accords with 
the measurements of the waist, and that 
of the arms and chest with the measure- 
ments of these parts ; but the strength of 
the legs is somewhat greater than we should 
have reason to look for from the develop- 
ment presented at the thighs and knees. 

Upon the whole, the strength is in ex- 
cess of the development, and the condition 
is favorable. 

The weak points are the waist, loins, 
and abdomen. 

Figs. C, D, E, as shown in Chart II., 
represent a young man of a different type. 
He is of Irish descent, aged twenty-two 
years six months, 5 feet 4 inches in height, 
and weighs 117 pounds. 

In this case the weight and height are 
more nearly in accord, and the weight is 
a little more uniformly distributed. 

The striking peculiarity in his case is the 
difference between the bone measurements 
and the muscle measurements for corre- 
sponding parts, — as at the knee, elbow, 
wrist, etc. Are the bones proportionately 
very small, or the muscles proportionately 
very large ? From a comparison of the 

36 



The Physical Proportions of the Typical Man 

weight and height it will be seen that a 
large per cent of the bone measurements 
are in advance of those of the same class 
on the tables to which this young man 
evidently belongs. We must conclude, 
therefore, that the muscular development 
is in excess of that warranted by the bony 
framework ; and that the size of the bones 
in the arms and legs has been increased to 
meet the demands put upon them. 

When we compare the total strength as 
shown by the chart with that of the total 
development, we find the former greatly 
in excess. The sum of the measurements 
would merely entitle the young man to a 
place in the 30 per cent class, while the 
total strength-test would entitle him to a 
place in the 97 per cent class. The fall- 
ing off in the strength of the forearm is 
accounted for by an impairment of the 
muscles of the hand, due to an injury. 

In summing up the condition of this 
individual, we are warranted in saying that 
he has made the best of himself in point 
of development. Under more favorable 
circumstances he might have attained 
greater stature and weight ; but his ances- 
try and nurture prescribed the limit, and 
no amount of physical training at this late 
date can make up the deficiency. By phys- 

37 



The Physical Proportions of the Typical Ma?t 



ical exercise under good conditions the de- 
velopment of the muscles has been lifted 
above that of the average or typical man, 
and the strength made greatly to exceed it. 
A few months' special training might bring 
the measurement of the thighs to the nor- 
mal standard, and add a little to the devel- 
opment of other parts ; but it would add 
noth T 'ng to the health, permanent strength, 
or longevity of the individual. 

Figs. F, G, H, and Chart III. represent 
an individual of another type — of Ameri- 
can ancestry. 

His age is thirty-three years, weight 
i 6 1 pounds, and height 5 feet 9.7 inches. 

Upon referring to the chart, it will be 
noticed that the most remarkable charac- 
teristic of this figure is its approach to 
perfect symmetry in some parts and its 
marked divergence from it in others. The 
weight, which is a trifle heavy for the 
height, is very uniformly distributed, the 
only excess being in the region of the chest, 
hips, and arms. 

The relative proportion of the different 
heights of the body is very nearly, true. 
The only divergence is a slight falling off 
in the sitting height, which is probably 
due to the shortness of the neck. The 
neck and chest are large in circumference. 



The Physical Proportions of the Typical Man 

The excess in the chest-girth may be ac- 
counted for by the prominence of the 
shoulder-blades; for the girth of the waist 
is consistent with other measurements. 
The girth of the hips, thighs, and knees 
indicates the nearest approach to perfect 
symmetry that it is possible to attain. 

The calves are a trifle small, and the 
insteps somewhat flat ; but for these slight 
deficiencies, and the fact that the upper 
and lower leg are 
a few centimetres 
short, the lower 
extremities of this 
individual would 
be perfect in form. 

The upper and 
fore arms are too 
large for the body 
and limbs, and a 
trifle inconsistent 
in themselves, the 
wrist being rela- 
tively greater in 
circumference 
than the elbows. 

The falling 
off in the depth 
of the chest is 
very marked, 




39 



The Physical Proportions of the Typical Man 

dropping, as it does, from the 80 per cent 
to the 5 per cent class. 

This is decidedly the weak point in this 
individual. It is not apparent in the illus- 
trations, nor would it be detected readily 
in the individual. 

It is attributable to an inward or antero- 
posterior curve of the spine, between the 
shoulder-blades, and a depression of the 
lower part of the sternum, or breast-bone. 

There has been considerable compensa- 
tion, as evidenced by the size of the chest 
and the lateral prominence of the ribs; but 
it will be observed that the breathing ca- 
pacity, although higher than we would 
expect from the depth of the chest, is still 
lower than it should be. 

The depth of the abdomen falls in the 
80 per cent class, as do nearly all the 
breadths and lengths, the only exception 
being the trifling deficiency in the breadth 
of head and the slight excess in the breadth 
of hips. 

In most persons the horizontal length 
is about one-half of an inch greater than 
the height. This is undoubtedly due to 
the straightening of the spine and the re- 
laxing of the cartilages while in the hori- 
zontal position. In this case the spine is 
comparatively straight, so that little dirTer- 

40 



The Physical Proportions of the Typical Man 

ence is shown between the standing and 
horizontal length. 

The strength-tests in this case, as in the 
others, approach near to the maximum 
class. 

Upon glancing over the chart as a whole, 
it will be readily seen that the normal po- 
sition of this individual is in the 80 per 
cent class. Nearly all of the bone meas- 
urements which are not readily changed in 
adults fall on the 80 per cent line, while 
those of the soft parts which are more eas- 
ily affected fall above this line. To bring 
the depth of the chest up to this standard 
by natural processes, although impossible 
now, would have been a simple matter 
in early youth. With this exception, the 
individual just considered could so develop 
himself by a judicious course of exercise as 
to approach very near to perfect symmetry. 

In this case the dotted line on the chart, 
indicating the actual and relative standing 
of the individual at all the parts considered, 
would be perpendicular. This is the grand 
object to be attained. The straight line is 
the physical sign of health and longevity, 
of perfect structure and harmony of func- 
tion, and a symmetrical development of 
the whole body. 

The weight must not be too great, or 
41 



The Physical Proportio?is of the Typical Man 

the stature too short or tall; the limbs too 
massive for the body, or the body too 
heavy for the limbs ; the head too large 
or too small, or the neck too short or too 
long and slender. A small, well-made 
engine, with all parts adjusted, will do 
more work than a larger one with parts 
loosely constructed and a great dispropor- 
tion between the important members. So 
a small man, compactly built, with sym- 
metrical proportions and a well-balanced 
organism, can accomplish more than a 
larger man less solidly made, with all 
parts wanting in symmetry and shapeliness. 
This law of adaptation and harmonious 
adjustment of parts prevails throughout the 
greater portion of the animal kingdom. 

Among the civilized portion of the 
human race it is controverted by social 
laws that tend to foster an inharmonious 
development. The division of labor, for 
instance, has made it possible for a man 
to earn a livelihood and to maintain a 
footing in the world by the use of very 
few muscles and faculties. Under such 
circumstances the large head and massive 
shoulders and chest are not necessarily 
accompanied by a broad, substantial waist 
and pelvis and well-developed lower ex- 
tremities. It is true that the waist and 

42 



The Physical Proportions of the Typical Alan 

legs would have to bear the burden of the 
weight above if the individual engaged 
in any kind of physical activity in an 
upright position ; but a person with his 
weight so unequally distributed would find 
it very irksome to walk or run, and would 
naturally avail himself of all the modern 
conveniences for locomotion. In choosing 
his life's work, the chances are that he 
would gravitate into some sedentary occu- 
pation in which he could render an equiv- 
alent service to any who were willing to 
do his back and leg work for him. Had 
he been advised to enter a gymnasium or 
join an athletic club for the purpose of 
improving his physical condition, he would 
probably have selected that exercise from 
which he could derive the greatest amount 
of pleasure with the least amount of effort. 
This would be something to call into play 
the muscles that were already strong. The 
result of this inharmonious development 
would be a further modification of struc- 
ture, which would eventually throw the 
remaining organisms out of gear, and 
constitute a greater or less tendency to 
disease. 

" Cultivate both mind and body along 
the line of the least resistance." 

" Study yourselves; and most of all note 

43 



The Physical Proportions of the Typical Man 





DATE 

AGE 

WEIGHT 

HEIGHT 
•■ Knee 
•• Silting 
" Pubic Arch. 

CIRTH.Head 
<• Neck 

" ChcM, Repose 

■• nai 

« Wairt 
« Hipi 
« RThigh 
" L. " 
" R.Kne« 
M u « 
« R.Calf 
«« L. •■ 
" R. Instep 

• t. " 

« R. Upper Arm 
« I. « " 
" R. Elbow 

„ L- 4, 

" R. Forearm 

» I. " 

" R.Wrist 

« L. " 
DEPTH, Chest 

" Abdomen 
BREADTH. Head 

« Neck 

" Shoulder* 

" Waist 

<* Hips 
LENGTHR-Should ED>. 

,, L . „ «. 

" R.ElbovTSp 

* L. " «• 

" R.F001 

" L. " 

" Horizontal 

STRETCH of Arms 

CAPACITY of Lung, 

STRENGTH of Lung. 

Back 

Legs 

n Chest 

UAnn 


Above 


15 


<J0 


80 


70 


fcO 


SO 


40 


30 


20 


(0 


3 


Above 




Below 


5 


10 


20 


30 


40 


50 


60 


70 


80 


«J0 


<?5 


Below 








































T 




T 










I 


















































1 




X 












































_,. 


"' 




s 












































-' 


'' 
















































\ 






















































/_ 






















































\ 




































































































































































»■ 


^ 


































































































































































„■ 


- 


















































x 


, 






















































"^ 
























































































































































































































/ 








































































































„ 


'' 










































































































~ 




- 




_ 
























































/ 
















































.- 


■- 


'* 








































































































- 


V' 


_ 




















































































































































































































































- 




- 


_ 


.. 
































































"P 






















































Jv 




































































































































































*» 


» 






















































•' 
































































































































































































































































































































/ 






















































J 










































_ 




■- 


- 


"" 




































































































































































































































































































TOTAL 
DEVELOPMENT 
VISION 

HEARING 




























































































































































, 


' 







































































































































































Chart III., plotted from figures F, G, and H. 



44 



The Physical Proportions of the Typical Man 

well wherein kind nature meant you to 
excel/' 

These are the sentiments that are shaping 
the tendencies of the age, and moulding our 
systems of mental and physical education. 
In neither case are we looking for improve- 
ment in blood and tissue, or for the pro- 
motion of organic perfection. The leading 
object is to achieve immediate success in 
social aims and distinctions ; and a false 
method is taken of attaining even this. 
In the effort the welfare of both body and 
mind is frequently jeopardized, and the 
foundation for vigorous health undermined. 

Nowhere are these tendencies to degen- 
eration more apparent than in the radical 
changes that take place in the physique 
through impaired nutrition. These changes 
can readily be observed by comparing the 
measurements of those in feeble condi- 
tion with the typical or normal standard 
as shown by the chart. This compari- 
son need not be limited to individuals ; for 
it is fully as applicable to schools, clubs, 
classes, or communities. 

While the primary object of the chart is 
to offer the youth of the land an incentive 
to proper physical training, and to place in 
the hands of instructors a key to the strong 
and weak points of their pupils, the author 

45 



The Physical Proportions of the Typical Man 



hopes, as the data from different sources 
accumulate, to show the anthropologist, 
the naturalist, the physician, the surgeon, 
the artist, and the sculptor, the impor- 
tance of the tables in the pursuit of their 
respective professions. 

To parents, in guiding the growth and 
development of their children ; to teachers, 
in watching the effects of study and local 
conditions upon the health of their pupils; 
to superintendents of shops, mills, and 
factories ; and to those who have charge 
of prisons, asylums, and penitentiaries, a 
knowledge of the typical proportions of 
the body are indispensable to the proper 
performance of their duties. To the soci- 
ologist and statesman, in tracing the influ- 
ence of occupation and of town and city 
life upon the health and strength of a 
people ; to the civil-service examiner, in 
selecting those best qualified to serve in 
certain capacities; to the life-insurance ex- 
aminer, in deciding what risks to accept, 
etc., a thorough acquaintance with the 
physical signs of health and approaching 
disease is of the greatest importance. 

In one or two subsequent papers I hope 
to show the influence of systematic train- 
ing upon the growth and development of 
the young, to point out by means of the 

4 6 



The Physical Prof>oi-tious of the Typical Man 

chart the physical characteristics of distin- 
guished athletes, to show the influence of 
the higher education upon the physical 
development of women, and to compare 
the proportions of the human figure, ac- 
cording to the canons of art, with those 
determined by anthropometry. 



47 



PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS 
OF THE ATHLETE 

/ 

By D. 4. Sargent, M.D. 




Figure i. {See description on page 53.) 



N spite of their objectionable 
tendencies, the beneficial 
effects of athletic sports 
upon the development of 
the physique are evident. 
The nature of this devel- 
opment is governed largely by the consti- 
tutional bias of the individual, the sport in 

51 




Physical Characteristics of the A thlete 

which he is engaged, and the time devoted 
to it. 

There is, however, a general devel- 
opment which distinguishes the athletic 
from the non-athletic class. The tracings 
given in Chart I.* (p. 54) were made from 
the measurements of twenty-three hundred 
Harvard students, of whom seventeen hun- 
dred had never practised athletics system- 
atically, while six hundred had been active 
members of college athletic organizations 
from one to four years. Many of the for- 
mer class, however, were accustomed to 
some form of physical exercise, and the 
athletic career of many in the second class 
was limited to a single season. 

It may be said, also, that men are often 
selected for athletics on account of their 
height and weight, so that the increased 
size exhibited in such cases cannot always 
be attributed to the practice of athletic 
exercises. The chances are, however, that 
every member of a college team has had 
more or less previous experience in ath- 
letics. 

Knowing, as we do, the influence of 
physical activity upon the development 

* In order to understand the construction of the charts used 
in this article, see preceding chapter, " The Physical Proportions 
of the Typical Man." It should also be noted that the records 
herein cited all date to 1887 only. 

52 



Physical Characteristics of tJie Athlete 

of the individual, it is fair to presume that 
a like influence will be exerted on the de- 
velopment of a class. The nature of this 
development may be found by referring to 
the heavy lines on the chart. Supposing 
the fifty per cent line to represent the 
mean measurements of the non-athletic 
class, the heavy line at the right of the 

fifty per cent line 
will then indicate 
the mean relative 



Figure i. — B , 

Harvard, '86; age, 23 years, 
7 months ; weight, 140 lbs. ; 
height, 5 feet, 10.9 inches. 
Holds nearly all the ama- 
teur records from 100 yards 
to 440 yards, and the Har- 
vard record for \ mile : 
100 yards, 10 seconds'; 
no yards, \\\ seconds; 
130 yards, 13 seconds ; 
180 yards, 18 seconds ; 
220 yards, 22 seconds ; 
440 yards, 47I seconds. 

Figure 2. — W , 

Harvard, '82; age, 27 years; 
weight, 125.7 lbs. ; height, 
5 feet, 9.7 inches. He 
holds the best Ameri- 
can and college record 
for 1 00 yards in 10 
seconds. In jus- 
tice to Mr. W 

it should be said 
that he consented 
to have his meas- 
urementsandpho- 
tograph taken at 
a time when he 
was not in run- 
ning condition. 




Figure 2. 



53 






Physical Characteristics of the At/ilete 



AGE. 

WEIGHT. 

HEIGHT. 

■ KNEE. 

" SITTINS 

" PUBIC ARCH. 

" STERNUM, 
GIRTHHEAO. 

" NECK. 

" CHEST. REPOSE. 

- " FULL 
" WAISTy 

- HIPS. 

« R.THISK; 

-' R.KNEE, 

- RCALF 

•• A. INSTEP. 

" R.UPPER ARM. 

" R ELBOW. 
..- L - 

'« R. FOREARM, 
■i X. ". 
■•: A. WRIST. 
" L ". 

DEPTRchest. 

" ABDOMEN. 
BREADTH, head. 

" . NECK. 

". SHOULDERS, 

• WAIST. 
' " HIPS. 


ABOVE 


95 


90 


80 


70 


EO 


so 


40 


30 


20 


10 


5 


ABOVE 


BELOW 


S 


10 


20 


30 


40 


so 


GO 


70 


SO 


90 


OS 


BELOW 






















































t 
Z 
Z 


















































r 
z 








































































































































































s 


/ 
















































/ 


s 








































































































/ 
















































s> 


y 


s 


N 










































S 


y 










V 


N 


























































































V 


s 










,< 


* 






































y 


? 










s 


S 


























































































































































































































































y 


~y 


k 


*> 


































































































^ 

V 


^ 


s 


y 


































































































































































/ 








































































































































































































































































































































































































































































■s, 


"N. 


y 


^ 

y 














































s 


y\ 


V 


^N 










































S 


s 










K 


S 






































^s 


ps. 










f 


^ 






























































































^N 




s 


|X 
























(! A. ELBOW TO. 

" R. FOOT. 

., L .. 

■ HORIZONTAL, 

STRETCH OF ARMS. 

CAPACITY OF LUNGS, 

STRENGTH OF LUNGS, 

BACK, 

LESS. 

■> CHEST, 

•• HARM, 












































































s 


A 


V 


•N, 




































































































5s 


A 


A 




























































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































/ 
















\ 
















- 


■- ' TOTAL, 
DEVELOPMENT. 


















\ 


















/ 
































/ 


















V 







































































Chart I. , showing the comparative measurements of the athletic 
and non-athletic classes. 



54 



Physical Characteristics of the A thlete 

standing of the athletic class. On the other 
hand, let the fifty per cent line represent 
the mean measurements of the athletic 
class, and the mean measurements of the 
non-athletic class will be represented by the 
heavy line at the left of the fifty per cent 
line. The chart as a whole seems to indi- 
cate that the first 
and most marked 
changes pro- 
duced upon the 
physique by the 
practice of ath- 
letics are shown 
in the weight, 
girth of chest, 
hips, thighs, and 
arms, in breadth 
of shoulders, and 
in the increased 
strength of all 

Figure 3. — B , 

Harvard, '87 ; age, 21 
years, 7 months ; weight, 
141 lbs. ; height, 5 feet, 
1 1.9 inches. Holds the 
Intercollegiate walking- 
records from one mile 
to seven ; has practised 
walking for last four 
years ; 1 mile, 6 minutes, 
595 seconds; 2 miles, 15 
minutes, \o\ seconds ; 3 
miles, 24 minutes, 14! 
seconds; 7 miles, 58 min- 
Figure 3. utes, 52 seconds. 




55 



Physical Characteristics of the A thlete 



parts of the body, while the girth of the 
neck, waist, and calves, the depth of chest 
and the abdomen, the breadth of neck, 
waist, and hips, seem to respond more 
slowly. The total height is slightly in- 
creased, through increase in length of the 
lower extremities ; but the sitting height, 
the girth of head, knees, insteps, wrist, and 
the length of upper arm and foot, are at 
first hardly altered. 

In the athletic class, the excess in devel- 
opment of the right arm tends to establish 
the fact that our popular games give more 
employment to the right arm than to the 
left. The great showing of strength in 
the forearm of athletes is probably due to 
the number of tennis-players, boating and 
base-ball men that belonged to the class 
measured. The slight difference between 
the two classes in the girth of the waist 
and the calf, and the consequent ten- 
dency of the lines to approach at these 
points, may be easily accounted for. In 
persons who engage in very active exer- 
cise, the girth of the waist will at first 
diminish, while in persons of less active 
habit the size of the waist increases. The 
muscles of the lower leg are generally well 
developed in the non-athletic class, being 
the principal muscles brought into play in 

56 



Physical Characteristics of the Athlete 

walking. The depth of abdomen and 
breadth of waist would not be likely to show 
a marked change, for reasons already given. 
The depth of chest and breadth of hips, 
being principally bone measurements, are 
slow to respond to exercise. The similarity 
in the two classes between the mean girth 



of head, knee, in- 
step, and wrist, 
and the length of 
foot, may perhaps 
be accounted for 
by the smallness 
of the athletic as 
compared with 
the non-athletic 
class. 




Figure 4. 



Figure 4. — W , Harvard Law School; age, 22 years, 

4 months ; weight, 136 lbs. ; height, 5 feet, 10.3 inches. Holds 
no records, but has won the quarter-mile race in the Intercollegi- 
ate sports for two years, and he is a fast runner for all distances 
between one hundred and four hundred and forty yards. 



57 



Physical Characteristics of the A thlete 



AGE. 

WEIGHT. 

HEIGHT. 

" KNEE. 
" SITTING 
" PUBIC MCH. 

- STCRNUHL 
GIRTRheao. 

•• NECK. 

" CHEST. REPOSE. 

- FULL. 
-' WAIST. 

- HIPS 

•• a THIGH. 

•• R.KNEE. 
•• RCALF 

- R INSTEP 
" I. " 

■• K.UPPER ARM. 

" R.ELB0W. 

» r. forearm: 

- R WAISI 

OEPTH.CKEST. 

- ABDOMEN, 
BREADTH. HEAD, 

'.' HECK. 
." SHOUISERS. 
'• WAIST. 
• HIPS. 


ABOVE 


95 


90 


ao 


70 


GO 


50 


40 


30 


20 


10 


S 1 ABOVE 


8ELOW 


9 


10 


20 


30 


40 


50 


60 


70 


80 


90 


95 


BELOW 




















































Z 
Z 

i 












































































.... 




A 




i: 






-" 


































••;:* 


:« 


=J. 














s 
































-i 








\ 


™ 5 


-■ 


^ 


U. i 
















us 


























































? 




















































*"•»»» 










*<* 


•>' v 




























2? 


«rf 










































- 


V 5 


f« 


p 


v, 
















































•*•„ 










~J 






. 


































lf r-"' 






— 


■- 




\ 




»* 


































"•«. 


)>n 




ssx 


■»* 








































,..< 


.,« 


^ 










































.*» 


.-' 










"^ 


^ 






















































































Ji 


?^ 
















J 








































! 












|— 


























s - 


s 


* 


"" 




W 


*£ 


. 


.. 






,«' 
































^ 
















v J 


































M* 


^ 




• J 


-- 


Z^- 


S3 




" 


















































































r ~ 


kl 






!*= 


-. 


~~ 










































'V 


""•i 










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\ 




































^ 














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? * 












II 


































'--. 


NT 


. — ■ 








rr 






































,-•* 


£?. 












j 




































> 
































































































■'- 




,m 






"-■ 


5* 


s? 




























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S 














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II, „, 


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n ,, 






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win 






. 


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w"< 




























































■' L <• 

•■ R. ELBOW TIP 

- R.FOOT. 
» I" - 

- HORIZONTAL, 
STRETCH Of ARMS. 
OPACITY OF LUN6J. 
STREN6TH OF LUNGS. 

• BACK. 

* LE6S. 
r CHEST. 
«• UARN. 
tf FOREAIIM. 

TOTAL. 
DEVELOPMENT. 




























,» 


>- 














L 


















































N 


^ 


'. 
















































Et 


r 






































^. 


<-' 






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^ 


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•■•. 


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s 




































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•"«). 


1 


































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— 




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^ 


























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/ 




































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• 1 






t- 




























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,..L. 


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I 

5 
















J| 
































..". 








•sferT ! 




r"i 










































































- 


g» 


S^pS 


^ 




E- 



^"z^. 4. 3- I- 2. 

C/zarz 1 //., plotted from Figs, i, 2, 3, <2«rf 4. 



58 



Physical Character is tics of the Athlete 

The most significant fact in connection 
with this diagram is that it shows, in cer- 
tain directions, the uplifting of a class. 
The data collected are not sufficient to lead 
to any satisfactory conclusions as to the 
trustworthiness of the diagram here plot- 
ted. The addition of a few more rowing 
men, or the subtraction of a few base-ball 
men, or, in fact, a change in the relative 
numbers of any of the so-called special- 
ists, might have altered the result. 

The improvement of the physique and 
strength in certain directions is indicated 
by the strength-tests, and by the increase in 
weight, height, chest-girth, etc. How far 
this development can be attributed to ath- 
letics, and how far to gymnastic training, 
remains an open question, as work on the 
water and in the field is supplemented by 
a few months' practice in the gymnasium. 

What the gymnasium is doing for the 
strength and vigor of the masses in some 
of our institutions of learning may be in- 
ferred from a single illustration taken from 
the records at Harvard University. 

In the year 1880, seven hundred and 
seventy-six men were physically examined. 
The strongest man out of this number 
showed in strength of lungs, back, legs, 
chest, and arms, as indicated on the chart, 

59 



Physical Characteristics of the A thlete 

a grand total of 675.2. At the close of the 
summer term of the present year (1887), 
the highest strength-test recorded was 
1272.8, and there were over two hundred 
men in college whose total strength-test 
surpassed the highest test of 1880. This 
general gymnasium work is therefore re- 
ducing the one-sided development once so 
common with athletic specialists. 

It must not be forgotten, however, that 
there is a development peculiar to the run- 
ner, jumper, wrestler, oarsman, gymnast, 
ball-player, heavy-lifter, etc. ; and any one 
familiar with athletics at the present day 
can easily recognize one of these special- 
ists. The same training that produced 
those matchless specimens of human de- 
velopment embodied in the statues of the 
Gladiator, the Athlete, Hercules, Apollo, 
and Mercury of old, would produce the 
same results under similar circumstances 
at the present time. 

With every kind of physical exercise, 
the qualities at first required are the quali- 
ties at length developed. Speed and en- 
durance are required of the runner, and 
these are the qualities that come to him 
by practice. In a like manner, skill and 
activity come to the gymnast and ball- 
player ; and strength and stability to the 

60 



Physical Characteristics of the A thlete 



oarsman and weight-thrower. Most of 
these qualities are accompanied by phys- 
ical characteristics. If it were not for the 
recognized tendency of certain exercises 

to produce certain 
results, it would be 
impossible to pre- 
scribe special work 
for individual cases. 
All men, however, 
who practise athlet- 
ics for the same 
length of time, and 
under similar con- 
ditions, do not at- 
tain identical results 
in their physical 
proportions, or the 
same degree of suc- 
cess in their athletic 
achievements. 

In order to illus- 
trate some of the dis- 
tinguishing features 
that characterize 
the development of 




Figure 5, a. 



Figure 5, a and b. — D , Harvard, '90; age, 21 years; 

weight, 142^ lbs. ; height, 5 feet, 8| inches. Holds the 3 mile 
Intercollegiate record of 16 minutes, 5! seconds; has raced but 
one season, but has practised much in the gymnasium, and ran 
long distances in " Hare and Hounds " races before coming to 
college. 

61 



Physical Characteristics of the A thlete 

successful athletes, I have selected repre- 
sentative members of the different ath- 
letic organizations in the universities of 
Yale and Harvard, a few of whom distin- 
guished themselves, within the last two 
years, by breaking all previous college rec- 
ords for certain events. The photographs 
of these men, in spite of their dissimilarity, 
show us certain characteristics common to 
certain figures, and marked peculiarities 
of another kind will accompany others. 
Some of these characteristics are not readily 
detected by the eye, but appear distinctly 
in the charts (see Fig. i, p. 51 ; Chart II., 
p. 58). Sixty per cent of the ten thousand 
examined failed to surpass this young man 
in weight ; while ninety per cent fell short 
of him in stature, and ninety-eight and 
three-fourths per cent in height of knee. 
The sitting height drops back to the 
twenty-five per cent class, while the height 
of the pubic arch, which gives us the 
length of the thigh, is very near the 
ninety-seven and a half per cent line. 
The position of the sternum would indi- 
cate that the neck and head were a little 
short, thus adding something to the rela- 
tive length of the short body. In glancing 
down the line, it will be observed that the 
girth of most of the bone measurements, 

62 



Physical Characteristics of the A thlete 

and the breadth of the head and hips, are 
below the mean. The chest is deep and 
full, standing almost as high proportion- 
ally as the length of the lower limbs. The 
waist, though small for the weight and 
height, is above the average. The calves 
are large, and the arms well devel- 

oped, but jggg^ tne thighs are de- 
ficient in W^nW girth, and do 




not compare 
favorably with 
the other mus- 
cle measure- 
ments. The 
arms and feet 
are long for the 
girth of the 
bones and mus- 
cles, but are 
in harmony 
with the length 
of the leg and 
thigh. The ca- 
pacity of the lungs is very good, and the 
strength of the chest and arms is in keep- 
ing with the measurements of these parts. 

63 



Figure 5, b. {See description, page 61.) 



Physical Characteristics of the A thlete 



The strength of the back, legs, and fore- 
arm are deficient, and the total strength is 
small for the total development. 

In looking at the chart as a whole, the 
striking points are the shortness of the 
body as compared with the total height, 
the great length of limbs, the large and 
deep chest, the well-developed calves and 
proportionally small thighs. To these 
points might be added the smallness of the 
bones as measured by their girth and di- 
ameter. A person familiar with zoology 
and comparative anatomy, in selecting an 
animal for speed, would unhesitatingly 
choose one similarly constituted ; for many 
of the points necessary to the development 
of speed in animals are equally essential in 
man. These, in a word, are the qualities 
possessed by the subject of the chart just 
described, who, though not a professional 
runner, has made the fastest time for cer- 
tain distances that has as yet been recorded. 
That all the qualifications possessed by the 
subject must necessarily be possessed in the 
same degree by all runners who would 
equal his performances would be an idle 
statement. One might compensate for 
great length of limb by a greater devel- 
opment of muscle, or for want of chest- 
capacity by a large supply of nervous 

6 4 



Physical Characteristics of the Athlete 



energy, etc. We feel prepared, however, 

to maintain 
that relatively 
long limbs 
with a short 
body, full 
chest, and 
small bones, 
will charac- 
terize the typ- 
ical short-dis- 
tance runner 
wherever he 
may be found. 
Short races 
(ioo, 220, 
and 440 yds.) 
are very often 
won by a few 
inches,andthe 
value of an 
inch or two in 
a runner's 

stride is of the greatest importance ; for, 

other qualifications being equal, this man 

is bound to be first at the goal. 

The small girth of the legs of runners 

Figure 6, a and b. — H , Yale, '90; age, 18 years, 10 

months ; weight, 150 lbs. ; height, 5 feet, 7.7 inches. Holds the 
Intercollegiate record for 1 mile in 4 minutes, 36I seconds, and 
the College record for two miles in 10 minutes, 7 seconds. 

65 




Figure 6, a. 



Physical Characteristics of the Athlete 

is often mystifying. From the girth of a 
muscle we get a correct idea of its volume 
or transverse diameters, but learn little of 
its length and the extent of its contractile 
fibres. Whereas, it is the length of the 
muscle, and not the thickness, that is of sig- 
nificance to short- 
distance runners. 
Given the physio- 
logical fact that a 
muscle can contract 
about one-third of 
its length, it will 
readily be seen that 
the longer the mus- 
cle the greater will 
be the movement 
of the part to which 
it is attached. To 
the runner the de- 
sired movement is 
in the elevation of 
the thigh and the 
extension and flex- 
ion of the leg and 
foot. An instan- 
taneous photograph 
of sprint-runners 
shows that the range 
in the movement of* the limbs is very ex- 

66 




Figure 6, 6. 
(See description on preceding page!) 



Physical Characteristics of the A thlete 



tensive — the stride of a fast walker being 
from four to six feet, and that of a fast 
runner from six to eight feet. If the 
stature is short, it is necessary for the run- 
ner to get a greater elevation from the 
ground at each step in order to main- 
tain a long stride. When this is done a 
relatively long lower leg is of the great- 
est advantage. This fact is admirably 
brought out in the case of Myers, the pro- 
fessional runner. With a height of 5 feet 
71 inches, which is a little below the 
mean, or fifty per cent class, he has a 
length of lower leg which corresponds to 
a man over 5 feet 10 inches in height, a 
length of thigh usually found in men of 5 
feet 9 inches, while the sitting height is 
the same as that which makes up the stat- 
ure of men of 5 feet 4 inches. 

Figs. 2 and 4 (pp. 53, $j), Chart II., 
give the physical proportions of two other 
runners noted for their speed. Fig. 3 (p. 
55), with the same chart, represents a 
walker of some prominence. Many of the 
characteristics that distinguish the short- 
distance runner are apparent in this case, 
but it is difficult to affirm that they would 
be found in other walkers, as there are 
not sufficient data at hand to establish any 
satisfactory conclusions. 

67 



Physical Characteristics of the A thlete 



AGE. 

WIGHT. 

HEIGHt 

" KNEE, 

« SITTIKt 

- IpubicakA 

- STEANUH 
GIKTH.HEAO. 

' Z HECK. 

<* .CHEST. REPOSE. 

^ - ruiu 

* waist 

* HIPS, 
*. A.THIGH. 
"■ L " 

«• A. KNEE, 
2 L - 

* HCALF. 

,«. A. INSTEP. 

«• A.UPPEP. ARM. 
" L - - 

* A ELBOW. 

■- L. - 

* A.FOREAPH. 

- t ■• 

- A.WAIST. 

- L •• 

OEPTH.CHIST. 
" ABDOMEN. 

BREADTH, heoo. 
— NECK. 

" SHOULOERS. 

•■ WAIST. 

" HIPS. 
LlNBTH.BSHOUlMRELa 

•• I " 

" A ELBOW TIP. 

••' i ■• 

!• «. FOOT. 
;■ HORIZONTAL. 

STRETCH of arms. 

CAPACITY OF LUNGS. 
STREN6TH OF LUNGS. 

(ACK. 

LEGS. 

WEST. 
f U.AAM. 


ABOVE 


95 


90 


80 


70 


eo 


SO 


40 


30 


20 


10 


s 


ABOVE 


BELOW 


9 


10 


20 


30 


40 


50 


GO 


70 


80 


90 


9S 


BELOW 






















































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z 
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TOTAL 
DEVELOPMENT. 




















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Chart III., plotted from Figs. 5 and 6. 



68 



Physical Characteristics of the A thlete 



In Figs. 5, a, /?, and 6, a> b, (pp. 61—66), 
Chart III. (p. 68), you will see runners 
of another type. In neither of these cases 
do we find so great a relative distance be- 
tween the height standing and sitting as 
marked the individualsjust considered. In 
both cases the sitting height is proportion- 
ally short, and in one case both the leg and 
thigh are long for the length of the body. 
In the other case, however, the thigh is 
long and the leg is short for the sitting 
height. It will be noticed that in both 
figures, as shown by the chart, the thigh 
is long for the leg. The chest and waist 
measurements are large when compared 
with other parts of the body. But the 
striking characteristic in both cases is 
the large girth measurement taken below 
the chest-muscles immediately over the 
ninth rib. Unfortunately this measure- 
ment is not shown in the chart, but the 
expansion in that region is apparent in 
both photographs. In the Harvard man 
(Fig. 5) there is a greater development of 
the chest-muscles ; while the Yale man 
(Fig. 6) has a larger chest-girth, though 
the lower border of the pectorals is hardly 
discernible. 

The Harvard man has broad shoulders 
and large arms, with narrow hips and small 

69 



Physical Characteristics of the A thlete 



iiiil 






Figure 7. 



thighs; while the 
Yale man has 
narrow shoulders 
and small arms, 
HJ with broad hips 
I and large thighs. 
The Harvard 
man has a very 
wide chest, with 
great muscular 
strength and good lung-capacity; while the 
Yale man has a very deep chest, with less 
muscular strength, but greater lung-power. 
As these men are noted in their respective 
institutions as great-distance runners, we 
ought to find some characteristics com- 
mon to both. All that remains, however, 
is the length of body and thighs and the 
great girth of chest and the region just 
above the ninth rib. To these qualifica- 
tions may be added the splendid heart 



70 



I'hysical Characteristics of the Athlete 



and lung power that usually accompanies 
this peculiar formation of the body. With- 
out this power, great muscular strength in 
body or limbs cannot be depended upon 
for long-continued exertions. With a good 
respiratory and circulatory apparatus, an 
immense amount of work can be accom- 
plished by comparatively small muscles. 
The essential requisites of a long-dis- 
tance runner, then, are a strong heart and 
capacious lungs in a broad, deep, and mo- 
bile chest. The reason for this will be 
apparent to those who understand the phys- 
iology of exercise. To sustain long-contin- 
ued exertion, latent energy in the muscles 
used is necessary, and also a ready means 
of supplying these muscles with an in- 
creased amount of oxygen while in action, 
and of carrying away the carbonic acid 
that results from the combustion in the 
tissues. Hence the necessity of breathing 
faster while running than while walking ; 
and unless this exchange of gases can be 
carried on with sufficient rapidity, and in 
sufficient quantities to meet the demands 
of the organism under these trying cir- 
cumstances, there soon comes an end to 
further muscular activity, though the mus- 
cles themselves may be far from exhaus- 
tion. 

71 



Physical Characteristics of the A thlete 



Figs. 7 and 8, a, b (pages 70—73), and 
Chart IV. (page 74), represent two young 
men whose peculiar development character- 
izes another branch 
of athletics. Fig. 7 
has the college rec- 
ord as a hurdle- 
jumper. His height 
falls in the eighty 
per cent class, his 
height of knee in 
the forty per cent 
class, his sitting 
height in the sev- 
enty per cent, and 
his pubic arch in the 
eighty-seven and a 
half per cent class. 
When it is known 
that this man clears 
his hurdles in regu- 
lar strides, " buck- 
ing " them, as it is 
termed, the advan- 
tage of the short 
Figure*, a. leg, long thigh, and 




Figure 8, a and b. — S , Yale, '89; age, 19 years, 1 

month; weight, 138 lbs.; height, 5 feet, 8.5 inches. Holds the 
Intercollegiate record for broad-jumping, 21 feet, 7! inches; and 
the Yale record for pole-vaulting, 10 feet, 32 inches; and 5 feet, 
6| inches for the running high jump. 



72 



Physical Characteristics of the A thlete 

comparatively short body is mani- 
fest. The chest is small, 
and the girth of the chest 
in repose is proportionally 
larger than the girth of the 
chest when inflated. This 
is due to the fact that in 
most men the difference 
between the natural and 
inflated chest is due in 
part to the muscular de- 
velopment, so admirably 
exhibited in Fig. 8, a, b. 

In Fig. 7, Chart IV., j 
the breathing capacity 
reaches the ninety per ct. 
class. Here the pectoral 
muscles show a compara- 
tively slight develop- 
ment ; but the breathing 
is largely abdominal, and 
the broad waist and deep 
chest indicate consider- 
able mobility in the chest 
and abdominal walls. The gluteal mus- 
cles about the hips are well developed, as 
are also the muscles of the thigh and leg. 
The development of the arms and shoul- 
ders is not so favorable. The difference 
in favor of the right side of the body is 

73 




Figure 8, b. 
(See description, page 72.) 



Physical Characteristics of the A thlete 





ABOVE 


95 


90 


80 


70 


EO 


50 


40 


30, 


20 


10 


5 


ABOVE 




BELOW 


3 


10 


20 


30 


40 


50 


60 


70 


80 


90 


95 


BELOW 
























































AGE 


Z 

z 

z 
j: 




















































WEIGHT. 
























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... 










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DEVELOPMENT. 






















- 




















- 


r 



Chart I V.i plotted from Figs. 7 a;za? 



74 



Physical Characteristics of the A thlete 

probably due to the take off (start) of the 
jump being from the right leg. The 
outlines of the muscles in this case are 
remarkably well defined, indicating a fine 
condition. 

In Fig. 8, a, /?, Chart IV., the same pe- 
culiarity in the relative length of body, legs, 
and thighs is not so well marked. The 
bony framework in this case is consider- 
ably smaller, and the muscles are propor- 
tionally larger. Here the ability to excel 
in pole-vaulting rather than in long jump- 
ing is apparent. The peculiar development 
of the arms, chest, and shoulders is charac- 
teristic of the gymnast. The shortness of 
the upper and forearm affords an excellent 
leverage for the muscles attached to these 
bones, and this young man could easily ex- 
cel on the parallel bars, horizontal bar, or 
rings. For a similar reason the intercol- 
legiate record for pole-vaulting is within 
his grasp. The development above the 
hips may enable him to get a lift or ele- 
vation from the ground which he cannot 
obtain in any other way. This advan- 
tage, coupled with the relatively long and 
muscular thigh, the ability to run short 
distances, and to concentrate the nervous 
energy of the body into single efforts, gives 
the power needed. 

75 



Physical Characteristics of the Athlete 



How little this ability to make violent 
spasmodic efforts contributes to one's last- 
ing or staying power may be inferred from 
a glance at the lung-capacity. Here depth 
of chest is to be attributed largely to 
muscular development, and the strength 
of lungs to the power of exhaling with a 
quick, explosive effort. Contrast the form 
of the chest and waist in this case (Fig. 8) 
with that of the long-distance runner from 
Yale (Fig. 6). 

In connection with jumping, the meas- 
urements of W. B. Page, who recently rep- 
resented this country in athletic contests in 
England, will be interesting. Page has a 
record of 6 feet 31 inches for high jump- 
ing. Considering his height (5 feet 6.9 
inches), this performance is something phe- 
nomenal. We find his weight on the fifty- 
five per cent line, his height on the forty 
per cent, knee-height on the twenty per 
cent, sitting height just above the five per 
cent, pubic arch on the fifteen per cent, 
and height of sternum on the fifty-five per 
cent line. Although very short compared 
with the sitting height, the body is long 
compared with the stature, as evidenced by 
the high position of the sternum. This 
being proportionally several points above 
the total height on the chart, it would in- 

76 



Physical Characteristics of the A thlete 




atively short 
neck. It will 
be seen that 
the jumper's 
characteris- 
tics are want- 
ing here in 
the relatively 
long thigh 
and short 
leg, though 
both are pro- 
portionally 
long for the 
body. When we come to consider the 
other measurements, this apparent disad- 
vantage is to a certain extent accounted 
for. All the bone measurements are very 

Figure 9. — B , Harvard, '87 ; age, 22 years, 3 months; 

weight, 172 lbs. ; height, 5 feet, 9.3 inches. Pulled the past three 
years on the Harvard University crew; played centre-rush in 
the '86 Harvard foot-ball eleven, and has had at least five years 
of exercise as a rowing man and foot-ball player. 



Figure 9. 



77 



Physical Characteristics of the A thlete 

small, and the muscle measurements ex- 
ceedingly large, the girth of head falling 
on the five per cent line, while the girth 
of chest is on the ninety per cent line. 
The girth of the knee falls on the thirty 
per cent line, the girth of elbow on the 
twenty, and the girth of the thigh, calf, 
arm, and forearm near the eighty per cent 
line. If the measurements as plotted are 
correct, this man owes his success in jump- 
ing rather to his light, bony framework, 
short trunk, and superb muscular develop- 
ment than to the relative strength of limb 
that we find in many jumpers. In a per- 
son so constituted nearly every muscle in 
the body contributes something to the ef- 
fort in jumping. 

Figs. 9, 10, and 1 1, a, b (pages 77—81), 
Chart V. (page 82), introduce us to men 
prominent in another branch of athlet- 
ics. In each case the weight falls near 
the ninety-five per cent class, though the 
height varies considerably. In all of the 
tracings, however, it will be noticed that 
the relative position occupied by the body 
and limbs on the chart has changed. In 
the figures previously considered, length 
of limb predominated ; here the body, as 
shown by the sitting height, is longer pro- 
portionally than either the arms or legs. 

78 



Physical Characteristics of the Athlete 

In one case the height of knee is relatively 
less than the length of thigh, as shown by 
the height of the pubic arch ; in the other 
cases the length of the lower leg is rela- 
tively in excess of the upper. Here all 
the bone and muscle measurements are 




Figure 10. 

Figure io. — W , Yale, '89; age, 23 years, 4 months; 

weight, 167 lbs. ; height, 5 feet, 8.9 inches. Played right guard 
on Yale's foot-ball eleven for '87, and rowed on the Yale Uni- 
versity crew for two years. 

79 



% 



, Physical Characteristics of the A thlete 

large and massive, the girth of head in 
one case being above the ninety-five, and 
in another at the eighty-five per cent class, 

while the girth 
of the bones of 
the legs and arms 
are nearly in the 
same class as the 
muscles that act 
upon them. 
In each 
case 
t h e 
girth 
of the chest 
reaches the nine- 
ty-seven and one- 
half per cent 
class, and in two 
cases the depth 
of the chest cor- 
responds. In all 
there is a slight 
falling off in the 
girth of the 
waist. This is due to the fact that the 
greater number of those who make up the 




Figure 



Figure \\,a and b. — G , Yale ; age, 19 years, 4 months ; 

weight, 164 lbs. ; height, 5 feet, 6.9 inches. Played in the rush- 
line of Yale's foot-ball team, and has rowed two years on the 
University crew. 

80 



"Ill 



Physical Characteristics of the A thlete 

measurements of the classes in this part 
of the chart owe their extensive girth 
more to fat than to muscle. In com- 
parison with the athletic class the falling 
off is not so perceptible ; and it will be 
noticed in these cases that the breadth of 
waist is larger proportionally than the 
depth. In two of this group the arms 
are relatively short, 
and in each of the 
group the upper 
arm is proportion- 
ally shorter than 
the forearm. 
The lung- 
capacity in 
one* case is 
very good, 
reaching the 
ninety-five per 
cent class; but in 
the other cases, 
though above the 
mean, it is not 
large enough to 
support the fine 
muscular devel- 
opment repre- 
sented. In Fig. 
1 1 , tf , and b, the 




Figure 1 1 , /'. 
{See description, page 80.) 



8l 



Physical Characteristics of the A thlete 





ABOVE 


95 


90 


80 


70 


BO 


50 


40 


30 


20 


10 


5 


ABOV 






BELOW 


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10 


20 


30 


40 


50 


60 


70 


80 


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Chart V., plotted from Figs. 9, 10, and 11. 



82 



Physical Characteristics of the Athlete 




Figs. 12 and 13. (See description, page 85.) 



Physical Characteristics of the Athlete 

muscle measurements are large for tne age, 
and consequently threaten to exceed the 
vital resources. The showing of muscular 
strength, so far as the tests could be taken, 
is excellent. 

The striking characteristics of the three 
figures are the long body, short thigh, 
large bones, full chest, short upper arm, 
good lung-capacity, and fine muscular de- 
velopment throughout the whole physique. 
What better illustration could be furnished 
of the perfect harmony between the form 
of the muscles and the character of their 
functions ? Here we find the large trans- 
verse development of arms and thighs, in- 
dicating great strength and short range of 
action ; and the expansive chest and long 
body, indicating great vital power and ex- 
tensive range of muscle-movement. 

Let us consider, briefly, the branches of 
athletics which these three men represent, 
and see the connection between their pe- 
culiar development and the sports they are 

Figure 12. — G , Harvard, '88; age, 22 years, 10 months; 

weight, 169 lbs. ; height, 5 feet, 7.7 inches. Has the Harvard leg 
and back lift records of 520 kilos (1146.6 pounds) for the legs, 
and 370 kilos (815.8 pounds) for the back; he is a hammer- 
thrower and broad-jumper, and has had four years' general exer- 
cise in gymnasium and ^ield sports ; is third strongest man at 
Harvard, having a total strength record of 1 139.7. 

Figure 13. — H , Harvard, '88; age, 19 years, 10 months; 

weight, 150 lbs. ; height, 5 feet, 4.3 inches. Is the type of a mid- 
dle-weight wrestler, had three years' practice in general athletics, 
has a total strength of 1060.3. 

85 



Physical Characteristics of the A thlete 





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Chart J V., plotted from Figs. 12 and 13. 



86 



Physical Characteristics of the Athlete 

familiar with. Each has played in the 
rush-line of a foot-ball team, and has been 
a member of a university boat-crew. Of 
all athletic sports, foot-ball is the best game 
to test a man physically. In the pushing 
and hauling, the jostling, trampling strug- 
gle for supremacy, few muscles of the body 
are inactive. The legs are almost con- 
stantly in motion, and the arms, chest, ab- 
domen, and back get their share of activity ; 
the lameness and soreness in these regions 
of the body after a fierce contest is due as 
often to great muscular effort as to collision 
with opposing rushers. In spite of the 
accidents attending this game, as at present 
played, no sport affords better opportunity 
for vigorous training. Though rowing 
contributes largely to the development of 
the back and legs, and slightly to the arms 
and chest, to the gymnasium and foot-ball 
training we must attribute much of the 
superb muscular development of the men 
just considered. 

In rowing, the back takes the greatest 
portion of the strain, unless the friction 
of the seat is excessive, in which case a 
double duty is imposed upon the flexors of 
the legs. A long stroke being desirable, 
the advantage of a long body, if sufficiently 
broad and deep to furnish extensive attach- 



Physical Characteristics of the Athlete 

ments for the rowing muscles, becomes 
apparent, while the short thigh and upper 
arm give power to the muscles that are 

working these 
shortened levers 
from the body. 
It is only when 
the stroke is taken 
principally by the 
arms or legs that 
the great length 
of thigh and up- 
per arm, as com- 
pared with the 
lower leg and 
forearm, is of ser- 
vice ; when other- 
wise, a greater 
reach is obtained, 
without losing 
any mechanical 
advantage. These 
facts are better il- 
lustrated in Han- 
Ian, the profes- 
■ Figure 14. sional oarsman, 

Figure 14. — B , Harvard Law School ; age, 22 years, 

6 months ; weight, 166 lbs. ; height, 5 feet, 8.1 inches. One of 
Harvard's pitchers on the 'Varsity nine for '87, and half-back on 
the '86 'Varsity foot-ball eleven ; he is second strongest man at 
Harvard, with a record of 1141.9 for total strength, and has had 
six years' training in college athletics. 




Physical Characteristics of the Athlete 

than in the men we are now consider- 
ing. His total height entitles him to a 
place in the sixty-five per cent class, 
and his sitting height in the ninety 
per cent class, while the height 
of the knee 
remains with 
the thirty, 
and the pubic 
arch with the 
t w e n t y-fi v e 
per cent class, 
the most sur- 
prising differ- 
ence being in 
the relative 
length of the 
upper arm and 
the forearm. 
Eighty per 
cent of all 
those exam- 
ined surpassed 
this man in 
length of up- 
per arm, and 

Figure 15, a and 

b. — P , Harvard, 

'87 ; age, 22 years ; 
weight, 1645 lbs. ; height, 5 feet, 10.5 inches. Captain of '87 'Var- 
sity Lacrosse team, and full-back of 'Varsity foot-ball eleven for 
'86 ; has had, at least, four years of athletic training. 

89 




Figure 15, 



Physical Characteristics of the A thlete 

only twenty-five per cent surpassed him 
in length of forearm. In view of Han- 
lan's style of rowing, these measurements 
are suggestive. 

Large bones, which usually accompany 
large muscles, may result from slow, heavy 
work, and are indispensable to him who 
handles great weights. If the bones have 
large, prominent processes for the attach- 
ment of muscles, or the muscles have short 
tendons and long insertions, great strength 
is the usual result. 

Perhaps no one thing is more important 
to a successful oarsman than good lung- 
capacity. In order to relieve the heart 
and lungs of the embarrassment at first ac- 
companying severe exertion, it is necessary 
to enlarge the chest and increase its mobil- 
ity, especially in the region of the eighth, 
ninth, and tenth ribs. This can be ac- 
complished by the use of light chest- 
weights, dumb-bells, and running exercises. 
I am prepared to maintain, also, that row- 
ing, with the use of the sliding-seat, is one 
of the best exercises for enlarging the 
chest, and I believe that conclusions of 
Maclaren and others to the contrary were 
formed before the introduction of the slid- 
ing-seat, as the evidence is indisputable 
that the girth of the chest is greatly in- 

90 



Physical Characteristics of the Athlete 

creased by rowing. The use of the slid- 
ing-seat brings more muscles into action : 
there is, in consequence, an increased de- 
mand for oxygen, which necessitates a 
larger chest-cavity ; and the effort of nature, 
by aid of the muscles used in natural and 
forced respiration, is to produce this result. 
Nearly all the muscles of the chest, abdo- 
men, and back assist 
respiration when the 
exercise is violent and 
prolonged. Considering 
that these accessory 
muscles are contracted 
and relaxed at least one 
thousand times a day du- 
ring a season of 
vigorous train- 
ing, we ought 
to get some re- 
sult in the shape 
of increased vol- 
ume of muscle 
and enlarged 
chest-capacity. 
This would nat- 
urally account 
for the increased 
girth of chest 
from rowing. 




Figjire 15, b. 
(See description, Page 89.) 



91 



Physical Characteristics of the A thlete 

The physical proportions of the two 
wrestlers, Figs. 12 and 13 (page 83), as 
shown by the tracings in Chart VI. (page 
86), are distinguished from those just 
described in proportional shortness of stat- 
ure and in great volume of muscle. In 
one case the lengths of the arms and legs 
are very short for the length of the body. 
In both cases the depth of chest and abdo- 
men is proportionately small, but the width 
of the waist corresponds more nearly to 
the other measurements. In the chart- 
tracings of Fig. 1 2 we have the nearest 
approach to symmetry in the girth of body 
and limbs that has thus far been recorded. 

The group of tracings in Chart VII. 
(page 102), representing Figs. 14, 15, a, 6, 
and 16, a, b y c (pages 88— 99), are in some 
respects unique. Here we have for the 
first time some approach to symmetry in 
the relative heights of different parts of the 
body. There is no marked divergence in 
the points indicating the relative length 
of trunk and lower limbs. In two cases 
none of the measurements fall below the 
normal or fifty per cent line, and in one 
case only thirty per cent of them fall be- 
low the eighty per cent line. In Fig. 14 
the line of symmetry is very nearly ap- 
proached in the chest, waist, hips, thighs, 

92 



Physical Characteristics of the Athlete 



and knees. The upper arm, elbow, and 
forearm, also, are nearly symmetrical, al- 
though a trifle large for the lower extremi- 
ties. The depth of chest and abdomen is 
a little low, and the lung-capacity is de- 
ficient ; but nearly all the strength-tests are 
in the region of the maximum. 

Fig. 1 6, a y /?, c, is pleasing; and the har- 
monic poise and beautiful outlines it illus- 
trates serve to show, also, that a man may 
depart from the normal standard in several 
parts and yet retain all the appearance of 
grace and symmetry. In girth of neck 
this man approaches within two and one- 
half per cent of the maximum, while in 
length of upper arm he falls to within 
two and a half per cent of the minimum. 
The waist and neck are very broad for the 
hips and shoulders, and the instep is ap- 
parently low, as the result, probably, of a 
high arch and narrow foot. In this, as in 
the preceding figure, the depth of chest is 
somewhat low, and the lung-capacity at 
the normal. The strength-tests would 
probably have exceeded the muscle meas- 
urements, owing to the shortness of the 
arms and legs, and have reached the region 
of the maximum. 

These two men are base-ball players of 
some prominence. As a base-ball pitcher 

93 



Physical Characteristics of the Athlete 

offers the batters from two hundred to 
three hundred balls a game, superior de- 
velopment of the right arm and shoulder 
is the natural result, although the gym- 
nasium training counteracts in a measure 
this one-sided tendency. Any one familiar 
with the modern style of delivering the 
ball, the number of times the pitcher turns 
around to perplex the batter, or watch the 
bases, will know that the neck and waist 
are called upon for a large share of work, 
and must be developed correspondingly. 
Where the arms are short, the muscles 
around the waist and body are used more 
in pitching. As the leverage in the former 
case is more favorable than in the latter, 
this advantage should naturally add to the 
endurance of the pitcher so favored. In 
striking, the muscles of the arms, chest, 
abdomen, and back are brought more or 
less vigorously into action. In running 
bases, the legs and arms do the work, as in 
"sprinting;" but the lungs are not brought 
into full play, as in running long distances, 
and the lung-capacity is but slightly in- 
creased. The other developments peculiar 
to base-ball players will, of course, depend 
largely upon the positions they occupy. 

In Fig. 15, <#, b, we have a typical la- 
crosse-player. In this game the muscles 

94 



Physical Characteristics of the Athlete 

of the arms, chest, back, abdomen, and legs 
are called upon; and the heart and lungs 
are often kept in a 
state of prolonged 
activity. As a 
means of general 
development, few 
games can be com- 
pared with lacrosse. 
It has many of the 
advantages of foot- 
ball, without its 
element of danger, 
although the 
method of using 
the stick which 
has come into 
practice within the 
last few years 
threatens to de- 
prive lacrosse of 
this distinction. 
In the figure under 
consideration, we 
see the result of a 
harmonious development in all directions. 
No one point stands out prominently. The 

Figure 16, a, b, and c. — S , Yale, '88; age, 24 years, 

9 months ; weight, 149 lbs. ; height, 5 feet, 5.4 inches. Has 
pitched on the Yale base-ball nine for two years, and had con- 
siderable experience in ball-playing before entering college. 




Figure 16, a. 



95 



Physical Characteristics of the A thlete 



extent of divergence on the chart is limited 
to a very few lines, and the approach to 
symmetry is apparent. The length meas- 
urements of the upper arm and forearm 
fall exactly on the normal line, and both 
are perfectly symmetrical as related to each 
other and to the right and left sides. 
When compared with other parts of the 
body, however, it will be seen that the 
arms are short, illustrating a point in con- 
nection with the chart that may be of in- 
terest. In the original table, the fifty per 
cent line represents the value of the meas- 
urements for each part at which the great- 
est number of observations occurred. For 
example, if out of any given number of 
men, collected from all parts of the globe, 
the largest group was 5 feet 5^ inches in 
height, this measurement would naturally 
fall upon the central line of a chart com- 
posed of these records, and so would the 
measurements of the other parts common 
to the greatest number. If any one man 
could be found, all of whose measurements 
corresponded to those on the central line 
in the table, he would be termed a mean 
or typical man; i.e., he would represent the 
type most common to the human race.* 

* " The conclusions arrived at up to the present time, by the 
most eminent investigators in this particular branch of science 
(anthropometry), may be summarily stated as follows : — 

96 



Physical Characteristics of the A thlete 

The height, 
weight, and physical 
proportions of such 
a man are those that 
all men who have at- 
tained their growth 
would possess but 
for the influence of 
climate, heredity, 
nurture, and a mul- 
titude of accidental 
causes that have as- 
sisted or interfered 
with nature's plan of 
development. These 
causes, operating on 
a grand scale, have 
given us the forms 

" i. There is a perfect form 
or type of man, and the ten- 
dency of the race is to attain 
this type. 

" 2. The order of growth is 
regular toward this type. 

" 3. The variations from this type follow a definite law, the 
law of accidental causes. 

" 4. The line formed by these variations, when arranged in 
groups, receding on either side of their mean, is the curve well 
known to mathematicians as the binomial ; it was first applied by 
Newton and Pascal to questions of astronomy and physics, but 
it is applicable to all the qualities of man which can be repre- 
sented by numbers. 

" 5. The more numerous the data obtained by actual meas- 
urements, supposing them to be made with reasonable care and 
without bias, the more nearly accurate is the mean result, and 
the more closely does it correspond with that obtained by calcu- 
lation." — Statistics, Medical and Anthropological, of the Provost- 
Marshal-GeneraV s Bureau, Washington, D.C. 




Figure 16, b. 
(See description, page 95.) 



97 



Physical Characteristics of the A thlete 

and proportions that characterize differ- 
ent races. 

We see their influence also upon people 
of the same race, family, and kindred. It is 
manifest that a chart made up from meas- 
urements of *en thousand African Bush- 
men, whose average height is 4 feet 4.78 
inches, would have a different mean from 
a chart composed of the measurements of 
the same number of Englishmen or Amer- 
icans, whose average height is nearer 5 feet 
7I inches. For the same reason a chart 
composed of the measurements of a picked 
class in the community would represent a 
higher mean than a chart made up from 
a class less favorably situated. 

Now, the same laws that govern the 
growth and development of the body in 
races and different classes in the communi- 
ty are just as apparent in the development 
of the class itself. The general chart at 
present under consideration was made up 
largely from college students, as stated in 
the preceding article. There were about 
as many men above the mean as below it 
in the measurements of every part taken. 
In some individual cases all the measure- 
ments were above the mean, in other cases 
all were below, while others ranged ex- 
tensively in both directions. To assume 

98 



Physical Characteristics of the Athlete 

that the man whose measurements all 
come on the mean normal or typical line 
represents the ideal type, i.e., the type to 
pattern after, is to assume that the stand- 
ing taken by the average man of a class is 
more worthy of imitation than that taken 
by those nearer the top. If this were true, 
we should be 
obliged to ad- 
mit that the 
lengths of the 
upper arm and 
forearm as 
shown in Chart 
VII. to come 
exactly on the 
mean line were 
the only normal 
proportions ex- 
hibited by this 
man, and that 
all the others 
had exceeded 
the proper 
standard. This 
is not the case. 
The reverse, 
however, is true. 
With a good 

1 . Figure i6, c. 

inneritanCe tO (See description, page 95.) 




99 



Physical Characteristics of the Athlete 

start with, and by dint of systematic ex- 
ercise and correct habits of living, this 
young man has worked his way up through 
the fifty, sixty, seventy, and eighty per 
cent classes to a position approximately 
near the ninety per cent class. The meas- 
urements on this line may be reasonably 
considered to define his normal propor- 
tions, whereas the parts remaining on the 
so-called normal or typical line are the 
only ones in which he is defective. 

The point, then, which is of the great- 
est significance is, not to see how many of 
your measurements come in the centre of 
the chart, but to first endeavor to straighten 
your own line, wherever it may be, and 
then carry it forward as near the one hun- 
dred per cent line as possible. In other 
words, endeavor to obtain a symmetrical 
figure, then strive for a full-orbed and har- 
monious development of all parts of the 
body. 

By so doing you will help raise the 
standard of the mean, and assist in deter- 
mining the exact ratio between the differ- 
ent heights and girths that exists in a fully 
developed man. 

We have seen that excellence in athlet- 
ics is not incompatible with a fine figure 
and a superb development. The tendency, 



[00 



Physical Characteristics of the A thlete 

however, of all special exercises is to pro- 
duce special results. The physical char- 
acteristics which we have found peculiar 
to runners, jumpers, oarsmen, etc., have in 
a measure been acquired by long and ar- 
duous practice in these sports. In many 
cases the special qualifications that make a 
man a first-class athlete are gifts of nature. 
Add to this inheritance the prolonged 
training that tends to cultivate these spe- 
cial powers to the extreme, and we get 
sometimes a prodigy, but more often a 
failure. 

It would be of interest to know if an 
inch added to Myers's legs would have 
made him a greater runner than an inch 
added to his sitting height ; or an inch 
added to Hanlan's long body would have 
made him a greater oarsman than an inch 
added to his relatively short legs. There 
is certainly a limit beyond which the de- 
velopment of special parts cannot be car- 
ried without interfering with the functions 
of other parts upon which their ability to 
act effectually depends. This and many 
other problems of a similar nature can 
never be decided until an immense amount 
of data has been collected, and many ex- 
periments have been performed. In the 
meantime we feel prepared to affirm that 



Physical Characteristics of the A thlete 



AGE. 

WEIGHT 
HEIGHT. 

' KNEE. 

- SITTINS 

" PUBIC ARCH. 

- STERNUH. 
GIRTH.HEAO. 

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OEPTHCHEST 

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- NECK. 

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• WAIST 

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CAPACITY or lungs. 

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TOTAL. 
DEVELOPMENT 














































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16 



Chart VII., Plotted from Figs. 14, 15, aw** 7 16. 



102 



Physical Characteristics of the A thlete 

mankind would be better served by a more 
general cultivation of athletics than by the 
cultivation of specialties to an extreme ; 
that the development of athletes them- 
selves would be more complete, and that 
they would even realize a greater progress 
in the pursuit of their specialties, if they 
participated in a greater range of exercises. 
The runner would find it to his advantage 
to practise rowing, and to use the gymna- 
sium for the purpose of cultivating the 
muscles used in forced respiration. The 
oarsman w r ould add greatly to his breath- 
ing capacity by long-distance running, and 
acquire dash and vim through foot-ball 
and lawn tennis. The jumper could add 
to his agility by frequent trials at short-dis- 
tance running and occasional spins on the 
bicycle. The gymnast would be likely 
to add to the permanency of his develop- 
ment, and improve his constitutional vigor, 
by indulging more freely in out-of-door 
sports. 

And so on through all the range of spe- 
cialties. Let the active learn something 
from the strong, and the strong take les- 
sons from the active, while both acquire 
the great secret of enduring. When our 
athletes shall have learned the full value 
of indirect training, we shall not only have 

103 



Physical Characteristics of the A thlete 

greater athletic performances, but better 
specimens of physical manhood. 

In conclusion, let it be said, whatever 
may be the physical qualifications of the 
athlete, in his achievements he will fall 
short of success without a well-developed 
nervous system, and the possession of that 
almost sublime quality in man, courage. 
As a means of developing such qualities, 
added to those of coolness, presence of 
mind, and the rapid and responsible exer- 
cise of judgment under trying circum- 
stances, which are so desirable in the 
" battle of life," athletics should be kept 
from degenerating into the bad associa- 
tions that often accompany professional- 
ism, and be elevated to a high plane by 
the lovers of manly sport. 



104 



GOLF 



/ 

By H. J. Wbigham 

(Amateur Champion of the United States, 1896) 



Illustrations by A. B. Frost 




T is natural that 
a game which 
has formed the 
chief recreation 
of the Scottish 
people for several centuries 
should have by this time acquired a large 
literature of its own; so much so, that two 
of the best volumes in the whole domain 
of sporting history are devoted to this sub- 
ject. It will be unnecessary and superfluous, 
therefore, to enter upon a full description 
of the game's development in the remote 
past ; for are not its annals written in the 
pages of the Badminton book upon golf, 
and did not Sir Walter Simpson go back 
farther yet, and invent a pretty legend to 
explain the origin of the pastime ? All 
this has been done for us already. It is 
needless to recount how the popularity of 

107 



Golf 

the game began in the seventeenth century 
seriously to menace the profession of the 
soldier and the pursuit of religion; how the 
great Montrose preferred a friendly contest 
at Musselburgh to raiding the base Low- 
lander, or how Charles I. forfeited his 
crown and his life because he allowed the 
Irish Rebellion to break out while he was 
sacrificing his royal duties to indulgence in 
this ancient sport. More recent passages in 
history tell the same tale. The one fact of 
importance which has been related of the 
predecessor of Queen Victoria on. the throne 
of England is that he was elected captain 
of the St. Andrews Golf 
Club ; and it is certain 
to-day that Mr. A. J. 
Balfour would refuse 
the premiership of 
Great Britain if 

(* ~^v he could by so 

' ^^OJ^rr&C?^ \^ doing; become 
*?^\£?* *«W<)f>> the amateur 



golf champion 
of Scotland and 
England. 




(■■ yQ^X^j 

Plan of Newport Golf Club-house. 



[The distinctive feature of this Club-house, as shown by the 
plan, is that it is divided into three parts. One is given over to 
the dining-room, kitchen, and servants' quarters ; another to 
dressing and locker-rooms ; and the third to the social or general 
club features — the three wings being joined by an elliptical hall 
— the rendezvous.] 

108 




<*- 



A Clean Miss. 



Golf 

In order, then, 
to avoid returning 
over ground that has been 
so often trodden before, it 
will be well to confine our- 
selves to the more recent in- 
cidents in the growth of the 
game, more especially those 
which have to do with 
its spread in this country. 
For even Mr. Horace 
Hutchinson's excellent 
work in the Badminton 
series was contributed 
before England became 
thoroughly converted. Nine years ago, 
at the English universities, not only was 
the game played by a very small body of 
undergraduates over the half-inundated 
cricket-fields during the winter months, 
but the ignorance displayed by all who did 
not belong to this devoted band was simply 
appalling to one who had been born and 
educated north of the Tweed. The point 
of view taken by most Englishmen was 
well expressed when it was proposed about 
a year later that the members of the team 
selected to represent Oxford in the inter- 
university golf match should be allowed 
the privilege of wearing a " half-blue,' ' — 



109 



Golf 

the full "blue" being the reward for ser- 
vices in the Rowing Eight, the Cricket 
Eleven, or foot-ball teams. The president 
of the "blues" committee was at that time 
one of the best all-round athletes in Oxford, 
and he very strongly objected to extending 
any university recognition to the exponents 
of a game which, as he put it, did not 
induce perspiration. In other words, he 
confirmed the general opinion of outsiders 
that golf is not an athletic pursuit at all, 
but merely a mild recreation for old men. 
Now, although it is perfectly true that 
children often and octogenarians can trudge 
round the links and enjoy the fresh air and 
the mild exercise involved in 
tapping the ball, it is entirely 
wrong to suppose that the game, 
when properly played, does not 
require the same 
muscular strength, 
skill, and endur- 
ance which are 
requisite for 
preeminence in 
all of the higher 
branches of sport. 
Golf was never in- 
tended to be a 
game for team 




Uncertain A rithmetic. 



no 



Golf 




Willie Dunn's Shop at Shinnecock. 



1 ^ matches, and for that rea- 

son it is probably right to leave it out of 
the reckoning in university athletics. On 
the other hand, we need only look for a 
moment at the career of the best amateur 
players in the world to see the truth of the 
assertion, upon which I should like to lay 
some stress, that strength, skill, and train- 
ing are absolutely necessary for success in 
the royal and ancient game ; for if it were 
really a pastime for old men, women, and 
children, as so many seem to imagine, or if 
it were simply a society fad, as it would 
appear to a large section of the American 
public who have been unaccustomed in the 
past to any form of athletics which can be 
indulged in by a man after he has left col- 



Golf 



lege, then the best players would be drawn 
indifferently from the ranks of the strong 
and the weak, the young and the aged. 
This, however, is not the case. Every 
prominent golfer whose name comes read- 
ily to mind has achieved success in other 
branches of sport. Mr. F. G. Tait, the 
amateur champion of Great Britain for 
1896, was a fair cricketer at school and a 
first-rate foot-ball player. He did not go 
through a university career, and so his 
prowess on the foot-ball field was not widely 
known ; but he was one of the strongest 
players at Sandhurst, the training-school for 
the army, where strong men are rife. His 
predecessor, Mr. Leslie Balfour-Melville, 
whose, record as a golfer is a long and glo- 
rious one, was for years the best all-round 
athlete in Scotland. He was one of the 
few cricketers from the North who could 
ever rank with the English exponents of 
the game. At school he was one of the 
most brilliant foot-ball players in the coun- 
try ; his skill at lawn tennis was far above 
the average ; and it may be remarked in 
passing, that he is a billiard-player of no 
mean ability; for, curiously enough, accu- 
racy in billiards and golf seem to go to- 
gether in a great many cases. 

Then, again, we are not surprised to find 



Golf 




The Drive. 



that Mr. J. E. Laidlay, who is without 
doubt the most brilliant match player of 
all the first-class amateurs, was one of the 
most remarkable school cricketers when 
he was a boy at Loretto ; and so instances 
might be multiplied. Mr. Horace Hutch- 
inson was a good cricketer in his college 

"3 



Golf 

days; Mr. Mure Fergusson, the Blackwells, 
and Mr. John Ball are all men of great 
physical strength and muscular activity. 
The last-named player had the distinction 
of being the first amateur to win the open 
championship ; and, although there are 
others who in the last two or three years 
have met him on even terms, he was for a 
short time quite unique in the power and 
accuracy of his play, and it is certain that 
he could never have reached such perfec- 
tion if it had not been for the country life 
which allowed him constant practice and 
plenty of hard physical exercise. 

It may be taken for granted, then, that 
although a man can play the game as long 
as he can walk, or even ride round the links 
on a pony, the real science of golf can only 
be acquired by men of athletic capacity. 
To saunter round the eighteen holes on a 
summer afternoon, with intervals for to- 
bacco and conversation, is one thing. It 
is another and a very different undertaking 
to go through a championship tournament, 
playing thirty-six holes a day, when every 
drive must be hit hard and clean, every 
approach must be accurate, every put must 
be true to a hair's breadth. A foot-ball 
match is a matter of less than two hours ; 
from the instant the ball is in play the ner- 

114 



Golf 

vous strain is removed, and the constant 
action requires a sound wind and fleetness 
of foot, but not the absolute freedom and 
yet control of the muscles which is requi- 
site for steady driving, nor anything like 

the strain on the 
nerves which is 
kept up from the 
start to the fin- 
ish of a close en- 
counter at golf. 

It was prob- 
ably an awaken- 
ing to the fact 
that golf was, 
after all, a real 
branch of athlet- 
ics that brought 
about its sudden 
and extraordi- 
nary popularity 
in England eight 
Fore , or nine years ago. 

The conversion 
of the South began when many of the 
prominent cricketers discarded the bat to 
take up the golf club. Having for many 
years dismissed the Scotch game with va- 
rious disparaging terms, such as " parlor 
skittles" or "Scotch croquet," they at 

"5 




Golf 

length discovered that it only required a 
single trial to enamour them of this much- 
despised pastime. Moreover, it became 
apparent that for those who had left col- 
lege, and settled down to a regular profes- 
sion, cricket was a vain and elusive pursuit, 
making far too strenuous demands upon 
the time and purse to come within the 
reach of any but the rich and idle. Golf, 
on the other hand, could be freely enjoyed 
by all who were able to spare an afternoon 
a week. No sooner, therefore, were the 
floodgates opened than the new waters 
threatened to inundate the whole field of 
English sport. The stanchest cricketers 
were found among the proselytes ; lawn 
tennis became a thing of the past ; the 
crack shots from the midland counties 
would tarry on the links of St. Andrews 
late in the year, when the partridges and 
pheasants were waiting to be killed at 
home ; even the rabid fox-hunter found 
himself wasting whole days when the frost 
was out of the ground, chasing the gutta- 
percha instead of the brush. Heretofore 
in Scotland an inland links was exceedingly 
rare ; but now they sprang up in every 
county of Great Britain. Old lawns, on 
whose immemorial turf it had been reck- 
oned a sin even to walk, were ruthlessly 

Ii6 



Golf 

hacked to pieces by the iron of the golfing 
tyro ; the cattle were robbed of their pas- 
turelands in order that the putting-greens 
should not be disturbed ; and, last but not 
least, the Sabbath was freely violated by 
men and women who had never before 
missed a morning service in church. 

Needless to say, this sudden enthusiasm 
was regarded with supreme distrust by the 
conservative Scotchman. New elements 
were introduced into the game which he 
could least endure. Formerly the only 
prizes in the year had been the autumn 
and spring medals at the leading clubs; and 
these were coveted for glory and not for 
their intrinsic value, which amounted to 
less than that of the expense in clubs and 
balls which it cost to win them. The real 
game of golf was to be found only in match 
play ; and the counting of scores was re- 
garded with the utmost abhorrence except 
on those rare occasions, twice in the year, 
when it was absolutely necessary. The 
Englishman, however, looked upon the 
matter in a very different light. Long 
practice in lawn-tennis tournaments had 
inured him to the vicious habit of pot- 
hunting, so that golf for him was a new 
and unending source of joy. Tournaments 
and sweepstakes were matters of weekly 

119 



Golf 

occurrence ; a system of handicapping was 
instituted, and the young golfer was chiefly 
engaged not so much in improving his 
game as in defeating the vigilance of the 
green-committee ; nor was it at all rare to 
find a veritable duffer in possession of many 
valuable trophies, any one of which would 
have bought up all the medals in the keep- 
ing of the best first-class player in Scotland. 
It can hardly be wondered, then, that the 
term " English golfer " became one of re- 
proach upon the Northern courses. The 




Golj 

pilgrims from the South were, in fact, a 
terrible nuisance. They had no respect 
for the sacred traditions of the game ; they 
appeared on the classic heath of St. An- 
drews adorned in flaring "blazers," which 
rilled the mind of the orthodox Scot with 
loathing ; they never played a match, but 
toiled round the links with pencil and card, 




Farmhouse formerly used as a Club-house by the Chicago Golf Club. 

intent on deceiving themselves into the 
belief that they were daily lowering their 
record. A famous old caddie at North 
Berwick expressed the general feeling of 
his outspoken class when he pointed to 
one of these misguided individuals busily 
engaged with his card on one of the put- 



Golf 

ting-greens, utterly oblivious to the fact 
that he was delaying the field while he 
worked in the higher branches of arith- 
metic, and remarked in a loud tone of 
contempt to one of his party, " D'ye see 
yon man ? D'ye ken the best club in his 
set — it's his pencil." 

This was only one aspect of the move- 
ment, however ; and now that the pencil- 
ling disease has more or less abated, it is 
only fair to admit that the new impetus 
given to the game by its sudden popular- 
ity outside of Scotland has been in the long 
run most beneficial. The competition has, 
of course, become far greater ; and as young 
athletes have taken up the sport more and 
more, the standard of excellence has pro- 
portionately increased. I am quite willing 
to believe that "Young Tom " Morris was 
one of the greatest golfers that ever lived, 
but I am equally convinced that there were 

n o amateurs 
in his time 
who could 
compare with 
the players of 
to-day. The 
conditions are 
certainly in 

Lost Ball in the Meadow. OUT I a V O T. 





Golf 

Not only have the greens be- 
come easier, and straight 
driving less essential, but the 
implements of war are far 
more efficacious. The qual- 
ity of the balls has greatly 
improved, and the introduc- 
tion of the "bulger" has 
revolutionized the art of 
driving. With the old- 
fashioned long-headed 
club it was practically 
impossible to hit hard 
with any accuracy, the 
slightest deviation in 
a terrific slice or pull. 
Nowadays the curve on the face of the 
club, and the more compact volume of 
weight make the matter of direction so 
much easier, that a far greater force can 
be given to the stroke. Twenty years ago 
a man who was a long driver was at once 
stamped as an erratic player, not to be re- 
lied upon. Now unless a certain average 
of distance is maintained, no one can rank 
as a first-class player. 

But it was not merely the old-fashioned 
weapons which handicapped the amateurs 
of the past generation. We have only to 
consider who they were to see that, other 

123 



Topped. 

aim involving 



Golf 

things being equal, they could not possibly 
have competed with the best players of to- 
day. In the first place, they were far be- 
hind the professionals, which is not the 
case at present. Secondly, they were, for 
the most part, middle-aged men; so much 
so, that it was considered an impertinence 
for any youngster to play against them. 
They kept up the pleasing fiction for a 
long time that at golf, as at whist, the 
ripeness of long experience was necessary 
for success ; and it required many exposi- 
tions of the game to persuade them that 
the cracks of the younger generation, men 
like Mr. J. E. Laidlay and the Black- 
wells, were introducing a new and supe- 
rior kind of play. When, for instance, 
Mr. Ted Blackwell used to drive across 
the corner of the railway at St. Andrews, 
— a carry of about one hundred and seventy 
yards, — his feat was regarded as a sort 
of circus trick, wonderful to look at, but 
quite outside the true sphere of golf. After 
a while, however, it became apparent that 
not only could the trick be repeated, but, 
what was more important, Mr. Blackwell 
almost invariably beat his opponent; and 
gradually the old order began to change, 
making way for the new, which was has- 
tened in its coming by the fresh impulse 

124 



Golf 




Fotir Strokes at the Bunker and not over yet. 



from the athletes in England. In other 
words, the kind of golf which could be 
played by an elderly Scotch judge on Mon- 
day afternoon at Musselburgh, in a stiff 
collar and a high silk hat, ceased to be 
regarded as the best standard of excellence 
which could be reached by the amateur. 
It was recognized now that to play the 
game to its full advantage a man must be 
in good health and training, with muscle 
and eye in perfect accord ; and we must 
thank the English cricketer for helping to 



125 



Golf 

impress this fact upon the hardy but con- 
servative Northerner. 

It is now time to turn to the growth of 
the game in this country, which is the 
main theme of the present article. We 
have seen that the sudden spread of golf 
in England was almost contemporaneous 
with a new development in the evolution 
of the sport. It remains to inquire how 
far that development has been appreciated 
in America. The particular genius of the 
American has a tendency to reduce sports 
of all kinds to a scientific basis ; and there- 
fore it is to be expected that sooner or 
later the lovers of the game in this coun- 
try will be able to throw some new light 
not only upon the methods of play, but 




Smoking-room of the Essex County {Mass.) Club. 
126 



Golf 




upon the interpretation 
of the rules, which has 
always been a difficulty 
since golf passed out of 
the hands of the few into the possession 
of the many, who cannot be controlled 
by tradition alone, but need the assist- 
ance of hard and fast laws. It seems to 
me that so far the players in this coun- 
try have been more exercised over the 
proper reading of the regulations than they 
have over the development of the game 
itself. And since it is extremely important 
that no radical changes should be made 
in the rules, which long experience has 
proved to be best adapted to the govern- 
ment of the game, before, at least, it is 
definitely understood what the game is, it 
may be well to point out a few of the main 
shortcomings of the golf that is played on 
this side of the Atlantic. 



:27 



Golf 

You cannot play golf without links, any 
more than you can make bricks without 
straw, so that the first consideration is that 
your links should be as good as possible. 
It is five or six years since the game was 
introduced into the United States; and yet 
the fact remains, that there is hardly a 
course in the country that in any way ap- 
proximates a first-class links in the proper 
sense of the term. Of course allowances 
must be made for the many drawbacks 
which have to be overcome in the way of 
climate and soil ; but there are so many 
errors in the best courses in the country 
which might easily be remedied, that it 
seems necessary to indicate exactly what 
are the features of the best courses in Eng- 
land and Scotland, and what is the stan- 
dard at which we have to aim. To put 
it as shortly as possible. Great Britain is 
encircled for the most part by a belt of 
sandy soil from half a mile to a mile in 
breadth which has been formed by the re- 
ceding of the ocean. This belt of land is 
of an undulating character, with occasional 
abrupt sand-hills, and the whole surface 
is covered with a short velvety turf, which 
stands a great deal of wear and tear, but is 
always smooth and soft ; even in the raini- 
est summer the grass seldom grows long 

128 



Golf 




On the Green. 



enough on the regular course to conceal 
a golf ball from sight, while the climate 
of the British Isles is such that a drought 
seldom comes to parch the young blades, 
or scorch the putting-greens. Such a thing 
as a stone or a tree is practically unknown 
on the best courses; good play will always 
secure good lies on perfect turf, while the 
putting-greens are simply part of the regu- 
lar course, not laid out with a spirit-level, 

129 



Golf 

but taken as they come with the natural 
roll of the land, which greatly increases 
the necessity of skill and accuracy in ne- 
gotiating the finer part of the game. The 
only hazards admissible are sand-bunkers, 
which occur naturally at irregular inter- 
vals ; the long grass which on the sea- 
shore is called "bent," and which generally 
bounds the edge of the course to prevent 
wild driving ; the gorse, which is an inci- 
dent of most Scotch links ; and, if nature 
happens to supply it, a water hazard in the 
shape of a pond or stream. There are 
cases of stone walls on Prestwick and North 
Berwick, two of the finest courses in Scot- 
land, but they are there of necessity and 
not by choice ; and to imagine that they 
are proper adjuncts, would 
be equivalent to 
considering that 
every racket-court 
must have a cracked 
because there hap- 
pens to be a slight fissure in 
the best court at 
Lords. 

Now, the 
courses which 
are laid out on 
this sand-belt of 




[ 3 o 




Wasted time. 



Golf 

Great Britain are not held 
to be best be- 
cause they are 
recommended 
by custom, but 
because it only 
requires a sin- 
gle day upon 
any one of them 
to find that the 
game takes on 
new features of in- 
terest which it has 
never possessed be- 
fore. A man who 

has once ridden upon a modern safety with 
pneumatic tires would never go back to 
the old-fashioned high bicycle with thin 
cushions; so one who has played golf at 
Prestwick or St. Andrews knows at once 
what are the possibilities of the game. 
Imagine, therefore, the astonishment of 
a Scotch golfer upon reading the accounts 
of some of the prominent courses in this 
country. Here are a few examples : " It 
is an inland course of stone-wall hazards, 
rocky pastures bordered by ploughed fields 
and woods, and is prolific in those little 
hollows known as cuppy lies;" or this: 
" The hazards are mainly artificial ; there 



[ 3* 



Golf 

are some stretches of sand, railroad em- 
bankment, and deep roads that are tests of 
skill and temper ; " or this : " There are 
nine holes in the course, which furnishes 
great variety in its hazards of hills, stone 
walls, railroad embankments lined with 
blast-furnace slag, apple-trees, and a com- 
bination of terrors in front of what is 
known as the Devil's Hole, consisting 
of brook, bowlders, and road, which has 
spoiled many a score; " or, best of all : "A 
player who has done a round at the Coun- 
try Club will have passed over various 
points of avenue, steeple-chase course, 
race-track, polo-fields, and pigeon-shooting 
grounds ; he will have come triumphantly 
through a purgatorial stone- wall jump, a 
sand-bunker and bastion, a water-jump, and 
finally a vast gravel pit or crater. . . . 
Stone walls, trees, ploughed fields, fences, 
and chasms present excellent sporting re- 
quirements on a course/' 

Many more instances might be quoted, 
but these are quite sufficient to explain ex- 
actly what a golf-links ought not to be. A 
golfer is not a quarry man, that he should go 
down into a gravel-pit to extricate his ball 
from the midst of bowlders ; nor is he one 
of the hewers of wood or drawers of water, 
that he should slash the trees with bis nib- 

132 



Golf 








:,/ 



«■£."> 



Playing as if he owned the Green 





The Golf Links at Tuxedo. 



lick like a modern Don Quixote, or cover 
himself with mire from a muddy ditch. It 
is understood, of course, that Nature can- 
not entirely be overcome. The coast of 
Maine, where there is enough moisture in 
the air to keep the greens in good condi- 
tion, is too rocky ; while the summer cli- 
mate of Long Island prevents the courses 
there from being kept in first-class condi- 
tion, although the quality of soil is equal 
to anything in Scotland or England. Still, 
even if the ideal links can never be quite 



135 



Golf 



attainable, it is possible, by aiming in the 
right direction, to get a course which shall 
be for all practical purposes a perfect test 
of golf. To arrive at such a consum- 
mation, it is necessary always to keep the 
ideal in view ; and the first object, there- 
fore, should be to procure the best possi- 
ble turf all through the course and on the 
putting-greens. Next, it should be re- 
membered that, if possible, all the hazards, 
with the exception of a stream or a pond, 
should be sand-bunkers. Long grass is 
admissible, but should be avoided in the 
direct line of play, because it leads to so 
much waste of time in hunting for lost 
balls. Every single tree on the links 
should be ruthlessly cut down. If a pic- 
turesque landscape is insisted upon, it is 
easy enough to leave the woods which 
may happen to lie on the confines ; but 
they should be regarded as out of bounds, 
and never played through. Every bowlder 
and stone should be removed with assid- 
uous care; for they are merely responsible 
for broken clubs and loss of temper, and 
have nothing in the world to do with the 
game. Finally, the putting-greens should 
be left as Nature made them, except in 
so far as they are kept in perfect condi- 
tion by rolling and mowing. They ought 



Golf 

not to be laid out on a dead level so as 
to preclude any nicety in the judgment 
of curves, but should be gently undulat- 
ing, and always guarded in some way by a 
hazard. In this country it is generally ne- 
cessary to water them, that they may not 
become parched and inordinately keen; 
on the other hand, it must be remembered 
that the smoother and keener they are up 
to a certain point, the greater will be the 
skill called into play both in putting and 
approaching. A man who has been ac- 
customed to pitch the ball boldly on to a 
slow level putting-green with fair accuracy, 
will find himself hopelesslv at sea when he 








Stymie or not Stymie? 
137 



Golf 



has to contend with a keen slope where 
a hair's breadth deviation from the true 
direction will lead to instant perdition. 
To take cases in point, the putting-greens 
at Shinnecock, where the championship 
meeting was held last year, were far too 
small and keen, although they were beau- 
tifully true. Those at Meadowbrook, on 
the contrary, are perfect in condition ; but 
they are, for the most part, so level and 
slow, that approach play is rendered com- 
paratively easy. 

So much for the nature of the ground. 
A word or two remains to be said upon 
the laying out of the eighteen holes. I 
say eighteen advisedly, because a course of 
half the distance can never be placed in 
the first class. The expenses incurred in 
laying out golf-links in this country are 
generally so great, that it has been deemed 
best in most cases to get nine good holes 
rather than eighteen of an inferior nature. 
But this should always be regarded as 
a temporary measure. It is not merely 
a matter of convenience in tournaments, 
which can only be held with any satisfac- 
tion on a full course ; but in every-day play 
a nine-hole round becomes very monoto- 
nous, and does not allow sufficient scope 
for versatility in the game. 

i 3 8 



Golf 







A Good Lie. 



As far as I am able to judge, there are 
many nine-hole courses in the East which 
are admirably constructed, — Meadow- 
brook, for instance, being very well laid 
out ; but there is not one of the eighteen- 
hole rounds that approaches perfection. 
Take Shinnecock, for instance, which, 
from the nature of its soil, ought to be an 
almost ideal field for play : there is hardly a 
single hole of a good length ; that is to say, 



139 



Golf 




The St. Andr t 



Yonkers, N.Y. 



the distances are so arranged that not only 
is the prowess of the good golfer seldom 
brought into evidence, but the chances 
of good and bad are in a fair way of being 
equalized. The chief thing to aim at in 
distributing the holes is to arrange them 
in such a way that each can be reached 
from the tee by one or two or three full 
shots, as the case may be. That is practi- 
cally the whole gist of the matter. For it 
is obvious that, under such conditions, a 
player cannot miss a single shot, cannot 
even play an indifferent stroke, without 



140 



Golf 

being penalized. If, on the other hand, 
the length of a hole is such that it cannot 
be covered in one shot, and yet if the drive 
off the tee goes only a hundred yards or so, 
it can still be covered in two, by the aid of 
a good second ; then it is evident that one 
drive is, for all practical purposes, as good 
as another. When there are many holes of 
such a description, a player may make a bad 
drive off every tee, and yet defeat an oppo- 
nent who never misses a single shot in the 
round. A careful study of the best courses 
in Great Britain will show that the number 
of holes measuring from two hundred and 
forty to three hundred yards are exceed- 
ingly rare ; in other words, the rule referred 
to above is the one essential toward excel- 
lence. 

As for the hazards, they should be sand- 
bunkers, as far as possible. Sand should be 
procured, even at a considerable cost, be- 
cause there is no other kind of hazard that 
answers the purpose so well. They should 
be of such a nature that a good player 
can always extricate himself from the diffi- 
culty in one stroke, and they should, above 
all things, be varied in their construction. 

The everlasting line of cops seen on so 
many of our inland courses are both an 
offence to the eye and to the intelligence. 

141 



Golf 

The difficulties thrown in the path of a 
discriminaring golfer should be of a far 
more subtle nature. In driving off the tee, 
it is generally well to have something in 
front to catch a missed ball, and the haz- 
ard ought to be large and well-defined; a lit- 
tle ditch at one hundred and twenty yards 
distance is not nearly sufficient, because it 
punishes only a few out of the many bad 
shots. If possible, the hazard should extend 
in many cases over the whole distance be- 
tween the tee and the carry of a moderate 
drive. Then, as regards the hazards near 
the putting-green, particular care should 
be taken to have them placed in various 
shapes and positions. A single bastion in 
front of every hole is more often an aid to 
success than a ground for misfortune ; it is 
an easy guide to the eye, and induces a 
player to be bold in his approach, — a qual- 
ity in which he is often deficient. Hazards 
should be placed on every side of the hole, 
more especially beyond it, so that every 
approach may call for careful calculation. 
Finally, let me repeat, that trees and stones 
must, at all costs, be removed ; and the re- 
quirements of a good golf-course will have 
been fairly stated. 

When we have arrived at such a measure 
of excellence as this, the difficulties of the 



Golf 

rules and regulations of the game will be- 
gin to solve themselves. The United States 
Golf Association, for instance, passed a rule 
permitting a player in a match to lift his 
ball out of any difficulty at the penalty of 
two strokes. Now, this was in direct op- 
position to the original idea of the game 
that the ball should always be played under 
any circumstances, or else the hole should 
be given up. The excuse for the change 
made by the Executive Committee was 
that there were many courses in the coun- 
try where conditions were different, and 
where it would often be impossible to hit 
the ball at all. The answer to such an 
argument is apparent. Such a course is 
not fit for the proper exercise of the game, 
and ought not to be admitted to member- 
ship in the Association. Although it is 
impossible always to reproduce the perfect 
turf and bracing sea air of the Scotch links, 
it is quite feasible to lay out a course in 
such a way that it may be as good a test 
as possible of proficiency in the game. 
Take, for instance, the Chicago Golf Club 
links at Wheaton. The course has been in 
existence only two years; and yet when a 
few additional bunkers are finished, which 
are at present under construction, it will 
present as fair a field for the settling of 

143 



Golf 

rival claims as any links outside of the first 
half dozen or so in Great Britain. Of 
course the quality of soil is different from 
that of St. Andrews or Prestwick, but the 
turf is excellent; a good drive is hardly 
ever punished by a bad lie ; the hazards 
are of the proper sort, chiefly consisting of 
sand-bunkers, with an occasional water- 
jump ; and, above all, there are no trees, 
stones, or buildings on the course. The 
holes are laid out in such a way as to elim- 
inate as far as possible the element of 
chance; and, taking it all in all, it is prob- 
ably the only eighteen-hole 
course in the country which 
can compare with the 
best links abroad. 
I state this, not as a 
matter of prejudice, 
but because it is 
an incontroverti- 
ble fact, and one 
which should 
be taken into 
consideration 
by all green- 
committees; 
for it is a 
simple proof 
that nearly 




A Foozle. 



144 



Golf 

all the Eastern courses could be improved 
to a similar extent by keeping the true 
ideal constantly in view. 

The rules of golf have always presented 
a difficulty to those who are intrusted with 
the care of framing them ; and since there 
are many points under discussion at the 
present moment of writing, it will be well 
to take only a general view of the case. It 
is quite certain that many of the existing 
regulations as they stand are faulty, chiefly 
because, while they have the right aim in 
view, they leave so much ground for argu- 
ment and discussion; and it is equally cer- 
tain that before long the American golfers, 
who are not bound hand and foot by tra- 
dition, will introduce one or two remedial 
measures which will incense the conserva- 
tive Briton, but will probably aid the true 
development of the game. Already an ex- 
cellent innovation, for which the United 
States Association is responsible, is the 
method of deciding the Amateur Cham- 
pionship. It was considered a great step 
in the right direction when the competi- 
tion by holes was first introduced into Great 
Britain ; not by a Scotch club, but by the 
green-committee of Hoylake in England. 
Since the hole game is the only true golf, 
it seemed a pity that the Amateur Cham- 

145 



Golf 

pionship should be decided in any other 
way. A difficulty, however, has since 
arisen on account of the unwieldy size of 
the field, which threatens to make the 
tournament a very protracted affair. It 
remained for American golfers to solve the 
problem by inventing the dual method of 
play; first weeding out the poorer players 
by two rounds of medal play, and then se- 
lecting the champion by several rounds of 
hole play, — a plan which sounds very ob- 
vious and satisfactory as soon as it is sug- 
gested, for it cuts down the list of entries 
very quickly, and also necessitates excel- 
lence in both branches of the game ; and, 
after all, the patience and accuracy brought 
out in medal play ought to count for some- 
thing. Now, however, there is a proposal 
to go still farther into the weeding-out 
process by fixing a definite scratch score 
for every links, based upon the distances of 
the holes, and accepting no entry from any 
one whose handicap at his home club is 
above a certain limit. Whether this sug- 
gestion should be carried out or not is 
entirely a matter of expediency. If it is 
found that so many entries are made as to 
seriously militate against the success of the 
tournament, it will be necessary to adopt 
some such scheme for keeping out all those 

146 



Golf 

who have really no chance of winning, but 
merely enter for practice or amusement. 
The national tournament is not a nursery 
for embryo golfers, nor is it fair that a 
good player should be handicapped by 
having to go through the preliminary 
rounds with a duffer who has not the ghost 
of a chance of winning. One of the argu- 
ments against the acceptance of a definite 
scratch based on distance, is that it can be 
so easily obviated by a slight alteration of 
tees, so as to make the score as high as pos- 
sible, and include a number of players who 
would not otherwise have qualified. Still, 
it must be remembered that it is always 
easy to defeat the ends of any government 
for the time being ; and a certain reliance 
must be placed upon green-committees to 
do their best, not only for the interests of 
their respective clubs, but for the future of 
the game itself. In this matter of qualifi- 
cation, experience alone will show whether 
a new regulation is necessary or not ; but 
as a general principle it ought to be re- 
membered that golf is still a very new 
game in this country, and the would-be 
iconoclasts should be discouraged from 
taking any premature action which would 
alienate us from golfers on the other side 
of the Atlantic in the meantime, and in 



147 



Golf 

the long run prove to be quite unneces- 
sary. 

Those who look for instruction in the 
science of golf must turn to the pages of 
the Badminton book, which is still the high- 
est authority on the subject ; but it may 
not be out of place to throw out a few sug- 
gestions as to the spirit in which the book 
should be read. It must be remembered, 
in the first place, that nearly all the men 
who have taken up the game in America 
of recent years have reached an age when 
it is impossible to acquire the easy supple- 
ness of youth. They ought, accordingly, 
to modify the instructions which come to 
them, not only from the literature upon the 
subject, but from many of the professional 
teachers, who always seem to forget that 
their pupils have not had the same advan- 
tages in early youth as themselves. It is 
nearly always wrong for a grown man to 
attempt a full swing to start with. I have 
so constantly heard the most promising be- 
ginners reproached for what the conven- 
tional book-learned player calls a lack of 
form, that it seems very necessary to point 
out that a short, clean sweep at the ball is 
not only far more effective, but far better 
form, than the angular contortions which 
go to make up what many beginners are 

148 



Golf 

pleased to call a full swing. In driving 
the ball, the main object is to keep the head 
of the club travelling as long as possible 
in the direct line of flight; and this must 
be achieved, at first, by letting the club go 
back only so far as is possible without mak- 
ing an angular bend in the swing. If this 
steady sweep is constantly kept in view, 
the beginner will find that gradually he is 
able to swing farther and farther back as 
the muscles become more accustomed to 
the motion, until finally he attains the proud 
distinction of possessing a real St. Andrews 
swing. In all other things, moreover, he 
should exercise his common-sense, and 
make up his mind that it is his duty to hit 
the ball clean every time, even if in so doing 
he sacrifices a good many yards in distance. 
Above all, let him watch the best players, 
and get into their style by unconscious imi- 
tation. If our beginners would only walk 
round with their professional teachers, and 
feel, as it were, the easy method of sweep- 
ing away the ball, they would learn far more 
than they do in a hundred verbal lessons ; 
and when they play they should always 
play matches, and not trudge round the 
links with a pencil and score-card, trying 
to lower a record of their own which is 
absolutely meaningless. The young player 

149 



Golf 

who can take odds from his elders and 
betters, and compete with them more or 
less successfully, is far nearer the road to 
grace, although his total score should mount 
up ever so much higher than the record 
of the solitary and introspective knight of 
the pencil. Life would be far more worth 
living on a golf-links if there were a rule 
in every club forbidding a member to men- 
tion his score, or talk at length about the 
lowering of a record which nobody but 
himself cares about, and even he himself 
only half believes in. The game was ori- 
ginally intended to be a friendly contest of 
skill ; the middle-aged beginner has made 
it a fruitful source of lying and self-decep- 
tion, and a very scourge to his friends. 

One word should be said about the cour- 
tesies of the game. There is no pursuit in 
life which exhibits the best and the worst of 
a man so freely as the game of golf. That 
a control of the temper is absolutely es- 
sential for success goes without saying, and 
there are many little points which suggest 
a loss of that control if certain rules of 
etiquette are not strictly observed. The 
most important of these is the way in 
which the rules are interpreted; and there 
seems to be only one way of dealing with 
the matter. First of all, if a penalty is in- 

150 



Golf 



curred for any reason, the player should at 
once admit it, without waiting for his op- 
ponent to call his attention to it ; and no 
matter how trifling the breach of rule, or 
how unimportant the game, the full penalty 
should be conceded, whether the opponent 
desires it or not. On the other hand, if the 
opponent should move his ball, — for in- 
stance, in addressing it, — it is his business 
to count the stroke, for stroke it is, just as 
much as the longest drive that was ever 
struck from the tee ; and, except when 
playing for a medal, he should be left en- 
tirely to himself in the matter. To put it 
shortly, the word " claim " has no place in 
the golfer's vocabulary. It may be argued, 
of course, that your opponent may then 
take advantage of you. If he does, your 
remedy is simple, — never to play with him 
again. In the meantime, if every golfer 
were intent upon acting up to the very 
letter of the law, there could never be 
any possibility of dispute. After all, it is a 
game for gentlemen ; and, unless that is 
kept in mind, unpleasantness becomes end- 
less. Perhaps it is this very fact which has 
made it so popular in this country, where 
the other great games are in danger of 
getting entirely into the hands of profes- 
sionals. That being the case, it is most 

151 



Golf 



important that the tendency to multiply 
tournaments and lavish handsome trophies 
on indifferent players should be checked 
at the outset of our golfing history. Ten 
years ago the best players in the world 
were content with the custody of one or 
two small medals which they could not 
even keep ; and I confess that, in the best 
interests of the game, I wish the same 
state of things existed now. Possibly we 
shall have a revulsion of feeling in a short 
time, and golf will take on again its garb 
of Caledonian simplicity. 




I 52 



LAWN TENNIS 



By Robert D. Wrenn 

{Champion of the United States, 1896.) 




Fore-hand Volley 




HOUGH the tennis entnu- 
siast is loath to admit the 
fact, it must be conceded 
that during the last two 
years lawn tennis has not 
held its own in this coun- 
try, or, in fact, abroad. If we look into 
the reasons for this temporary falling off 
in popularity of a game which has hither- 
to been in such favor, we are brought face 
to face with golf and cycling. It may 
not be out of place to state here that the 
American is, above everything, fond of 
innovations; so no sooner was the game 



155 



Lawn Tennis 



of golf fairly introduced from England, 
than rackets were stored away to give 
place to the new fad. Understand, I do 
not decry golf: it has come to this coun- 
try to stay, and is deservedly popular; but 
I do feel, and feel strongly, that once 
the novelty of the game has worn off, 
there will be a return to the ranks of 
tennis by the many who care for a keener 
form of exercise than the golf course 
permits. Cycling, too, for the time be- 
ing has made inroads on tennis, allow- 
ing to a part of the public, at least, no 
leisure for other sport. However, even 
with such formidable rivals in the field, 
we are bound to preserve a game which 
embodies so many good qualities ; and 
surely no one will gainsay that, as a health- 
ful form of exercise which puts in use 
every muscle of the body without an in- 
jurious strain ; as a school of training for 
nerve, judgment, and quick thought ; and 
finally as a sport which generates the 
keenest spirit of rivalry, tennis has no 
superior. 

While tennis may have lost ground in 
the public eye, if we follow the develop- 
ment of the game in this country, there is 
a gratifying advancement to be noted along 
many lines. It is true we have not reached 

156 



Lawn Tenuis 




r.^m A; 



The Smash 



157 



Lawn Tennis 



the proficiency of our English cousins — 
that is but natural considering their long 
schooling in the game ; then, too, the 
English season is longer not only in months, 
but in the hours of each day, and where 
we can devote one hour to practice, the 
average Englishman can devote three. An- 
other advantage to our rivals lies in the 
fact that they keep up their game to a 
much greater age than we do. It has al- 
ways seemed a pity that so many of the 
best players we have produced have re- 
tired from the game at an age when they 
should be in their prime. Our business 
requirements are in a measure responsible 
for this ; but it is a fallacy to contend 
that once in business, there is no possibility 
of holding top form. What we need is 
a longer tennis life in this country — if 
the expression can be used. In England 
a player is almost always improving until 
he is thirty, and frequently after that age. 
Take the case of Dr. Pirn, champion of 
England in 1895. It was only at the age 
of thirty-four that he won his coveted ti- 
tle, after years of defeats. 

Notwithstanding the drawbacks just enu- 
merated, we are certainly closing up the gap 
which has separated us from the best of the 
English field of players. W. A. Larned's 

158 




FOREHAND GRIP. FRONT VIEW 

Notice the straight line of the arm, hand and racquet, the flat racquet 
face, the natural finger position on the handle. The racquet is in posi- 
tion to hit a forehand drive. 




FOREHAND GRIP. BACK VIEW 

The line is straight, the head of the racquet slightly in advance of the 
hand. This pose is at the moment of contact between ball and racquet. 

PLATE II 




PLATE III 



THE COMPLETED SWING OF THE FOREHAND DRIVE 

Notice the body position, at right angles to the net, the weight on the 
front or left foot, having passed from the right foot with the swing, just 
at the moment the ball is struck. The racquet is carried to the limit of 
the swing and falls into the left hand at height of the shoulder. The 
racquet face has passed over the ball. The reader is looking through 
the strings. The stroke was made with the far side of the racquet from 
the camera. The eye i/s following the ball in its flight. The whole 
movement is forward. The tendency in hitting a forehand is to stop 
the swing too soon. Notice the full follow through to the extreme 
limit of my swing. The hitting plane in this picture is too high, the 
shot having been made almost at the shoulder. The correct hitting 
plane for the forehand drive is along the line of the waist. Play all 
drives at this height if possible. Step back to allow the ball to fall 
waist high if necessary rather than play it at the shoulder. Hit your 
forehand drive decisively but do not attempt to kill every shot. Be 
accurate first and attain speed second. 



Lawn Tennis 




■••• 



% 




Fore-handed Service. 



record abroad during the past season is 
a convincing proof of this. While it is 
true that he won none of the larger tour- 
naments, his matches were a succession of 
close fights which brought him twice to 
the final round, and reflected the greatest 
credit on his play. We are indebted to 



159 



Lawn Tennis 




Reverse Over-hand Service. 



the courtesy of the English official rank- 
ing committee for including Mr. Larned's 
name in its classification of players, and 
thus giving us a line of comparison be- 
tween the best men in each country. 
When it is considered that in all England 

1 60 



Lawn Tennis 

he was ranked sixth, in a class just after 
the three leaders, there is cause for con- 
gratulation. We have here the natural de- 
duction that the general standard of play 
of our "first ten" is very close to that 
of the corresponding class in England; for 
though Mr. Larned's all-around game was 
probably the best in this country last year, 
there were four or five others who were 
nearly even with him, and could, there- 
fore, have made a creditable showing on 
the other side. And right here a word 
of patriotic vanity! It seems to me that 
the American is cut out for a better ten- 
nis player than his English rival. It is 
proverbial that he has more energy and 
zest, - — two important factors in the ne- 
cessary make-up ; and when by longer ex- 
perience he has acquired a steadiness and 
coolness at critical times, and lost a little 
of his desire to win points too quickly, he 
should make the better player. 

Now a word on the game itself. 

Tennis offers a certain liberty in style of 
play that is apt to be abused. I point par- 
ticularly to the " net " and " back-court " 
games, which have become so distinctly 
separated of late years. The former name 
is applied to those players who make the 
majority of their strokes from a position in 

161 



Lawn Tennis 




End of Uuder-ha}id Twist Service. 



the court between the receiving-line and 
the net ; or, in other words, a net player 
is one who makes it an object to reach the 
net at every opportunity, in order to " vol- 

162 



Lawn Tennis 



ley" his returns. In the "back-court" 
game, as the name implies, the returns are 
made from far back in the court, and of 
course " off the ground ; " i.e., after the ball 
has bounced once. I speak of abuse with 
reference to these two distinct stybs, be- 
cause instead of allowing one to aid and 
abet the other, there is a tendency among 




Fore-hand Stroke. 
I6 3 



Lawn iennis 



our leading players to choose one method, 
to the partial, or even entire, exclusion of 
the other. If beginners would bear in 
mind that a net game is perfected only 
when it is backed up by accurate back- 
court work, and vice versa, a much more 
rapid improvement could be counted on. 

It is but natural that as success attends 
one line of play, we are tempted to overdo 
it, forgetting that by too constant use we 
teach an opponent what to expect, thereby 
weakening our game. 

As the first exponent of the net game 
in this country, O. S. Campbell made his 
mark ; and it is to his remarkable profi- 
ciency in this department that he owes his 
three successive championships of 1890, 
1 891, and 1892. Since that time his fol- 
lowing has been large; though no one, bar- 
ring C. B. Neel, has carried his methods to 
such an extreme. When Neel appeared 
before the Eastern public for the first time 
at Newport in 1895, comparatively un- 
known and certainly underrated, his easy 
defeat of M. G. Chace — who with R. L. 
Stevens ranked as the best back-court player 
in America — was a great surprise. It 
was volley against ground stroke through- 
out, — a test, as it were, of the two schools, 
and for that reason aroused much interest. 

164 



Lawn Tennis 



: .y 




c,-f,0:^--''' 



End of a Back-hand Stroke, off the Ground- 



Though Chace hardly held to the game 
he is capable of, the persistent and. untir- 
ing returns of his opponent, whether from 
a lob or a side-line drive, were in great 
measure responsible for his " falling off." 
To play well at the net, one must think 
and act simultaneously ; there is no time 
for cool consideration, or even the frac- 
tion of a second's grace accorded to the 
back-court player as the ball rises from 
the ground. If the chance presents itself, 

165 



Lawn Tennis 



through the weak return of an opponent, 
the ball must be "killed," or cut to the side 
line with such nicety that there is no pos- 
sibility of a return. This latter stroke is 
effected with a quick wrist movement, re- 
quiring not so much strength as delicacy, 
and only acquired by long practice. Our 
double champions in 1894, C. Hobart and 
F. H. Hovey, are past-masters of this art, 
which makes their game a brilliant one to 
watch. 

Opposed to the class of volleyers, R. L. 
Stevens stands out prominently at the head 
of the back-court players. Within the last 
year he has not kept so rigorously to the 
base line, but it is only on rare occasions 
that he approaches the net. By his won- 
derful accuracy and steadiness he is enabled 
to meet on equal terms the best net play- 
ers this country has produced ; but his is 
the exceptional case. M. G. Chace, too, 
is essentially a back-court player ; but he 
varies his brilliant low drives from the base 
line with now and then a rally at the net. 
In the judgment of Dr. Pirn and Mr. Ma- 
honey, who spent a part of the 1895 season 
in this country, M. G. Chace's game showed 
possibilities above anything they had met 
with. Certain it is, that for good form, 
endurance, and accuracy he is remarkable. 

166 



Lawn Tennis 



Second only to him in these characteristics 
comes G. L. Wrenn, whose game promises 
much for the future. 

In the base-line game, a steady ground 
stroke fore- and back-handed is indispen- 
sable. One must be able to " cross-court " 
or drive down the line at will. Much of 
the success of these strokes depends upon 
the rapidity with which they are executed ; 




The Cut. 
167 



Lawn Tt 




for it is fatal to 
allow an oppo- 
nent at the net 
to discover the 
intended direc- 
tion of the ball. 
The lob also 

mm voiiey. is an important 

factor in the 
make-up of back-play. Until recent years 
this method of tossing a ball high in the 
air over an opponent's head was rele- 
gated almost entirely to defensive tactics ; 
it was valuable only as an escape from an 
awkward position, or to gain time for a 
short breathing-spell, but now it embraces 
new functions, which have brought it to 
the front as a strong offensive stroke. As 
a means of tiring out an opponent, it has 

168 



■:.;■': 




Lawn Tennis 



been tried in long matches with surprising 
results; and though this sounds like a nega- 
tive sort of praise, we may as well admit 
that the value of a stroke is determined by 
its effectiveness, and give the lob credit for 
what it accomplishes. I recall at least three 
important matches during the last tennis 
season which were practically won by sys- 
tematic lobbing. 

There are two distinct kinds of lobs 
which will bear careful study, In using 
the first, the ball is tossed just high enough 
to be fairly out of reach of an opponent 
who has taken his position very close to 
the net. The stroke is made with the 
idea of allowing him no time to rush back 
and return the ball as it bounces. The 
second lob is tossed high in the air, — the 
higher the better, — so that its descent will 
make a nearly vertical line. To " smash " 
such a ball, even should it fall close to the 
net, is not easy ; while if it is placed near 
the base line, there is likelihood that it will 
be returned out of court. 

Where we show at a disadvantage with 
English players is in the back-hand stroke. 
It is no uncommon sight, even in the Na- 
tional Championship, to see a man, if not 
actually running around the ball, at least 
so favoring his back hand that a part of 

170 



Lawn Tennis 



his court is left unprotected. The mere 
fact of shirking a stroke is proof of weak- 
ness, which will be taken advantage of at 
once by a clever opponent. 

A simple practice, which I have found 
invaluable in improving weak ground 
strokes, is to spend some half-hour a day 
in batting balls against an even wall on 
which a line has been marked three feet 
from the ground. If the work is done 




up . i 



¥ if f ' 

it '■ ,' w : - 




Half Volley Backward. 
171 



Lawn Tennis 

carefully, with the idea of detecting faults, 
I can guarantee good results. 

In the separate analyses which I have 
made of the net and back-court games, I 
hope that my main point will not be 
missed, — that it is a combination of these 
two styles, and not the perfection of one 
singly, which is necessary to the success 
of a player. Let it be remembered that 
a good all-around game will win where 
brilliancy in one department fails. 



172 



BICYCLING 



The Wheel of To — Day 

By Philip G. Hubert, Jr. 

Woman and the Bicycle 

Bv Marguerite Merington 



A Doctor's View of Bicycling 

By J. West Roosevelt, M.D. 






I. The Wheel of To-Day 

By Philip G. Hubert, Jr. 



ROM the time of my early 
childhood I have had the 
notion that flying must be 
the height of bliss, and not 
even the example of Darius 
Green and his mishaps de- 
from an attempt at a flying- 
When I was nine years old I 
constructed a pair of wings. Neverthe- 
less, like the small boy who defined faith 
as "believin' a thing that you knew wasn't 
true," I had faith in my flying-machine, 
but an innate conviction that it might not 
work. So I fastened it to the arms of a 
younger brother before pushing him off 

175 



terred me 
machine. 



The Wheel of To-Day 

the roof of our woodshed. I had assured 
him that with those wings he could fly in 
a way that would surprise him. It did 
surprise him. He came to the ground in 
a condition that resulted in a sound thrash- 
ing for me. 

Some few years later, when in Paris, I 
paid a franc to see a flying-machine, — it 
looked like the combination of a washing- 
machine and a windmill, — which the ven- 
erable proprietor and exhibitor assured me 
would soar into the air like a bird could 
he but raise the money for two or three 
cogwheels and other trifles still needed to 
perfect the apparatus. That was a good 
many years ago, so that I presume he never 
raised the money. 

Having always had this mild mania for 
flying, I was much impressed a few years 
ago when some one said to me : " If you 
want to come as near flying as we are likely 
to get in this generation, learn to ride a 
pneumatic bicycle." Then I began for 
the first time to take a serious interest in 
the bicycle upon which my eldest boy was 
so fond of scurrying around the country ; 
and to-day I am only too willing to say all 
that I can in its favor. When one begins 
to tell why the bicycle is one of the great 
inventions of the century, it is hard to be- 

176 



The Wheel of To-Day 

gin, because there is so much to say. A 
bicycle is better than a horse to ninety-nine 
men and women out of a hundred, because 
it costs almost nothing to keep, and it is 
never tired. It will take one three times 
as far as a horse in the same number of 
days or weeks. In touring with a bicycle 
I can make fifty miles a day as comfortably 
as twenty miles on foot ; and I can carry all 
the clothing I need, besides a camera and 
other traps. The exercise is as invigorat- 
ing as walking, or more so, with the great 
advantage that you can get over uninter- 
esting tracts of country twice as fast as on 
foot. In fact, as any bicyclist knows, walk- 
ing seems intolerably slow after the wheel ; 
even easy-going tourists, with women in 
the party, can make forty miles a day, and 
find it play. Perhaps even greater and 
more important than its use as a touring- 
machine is the bicycle as an every-day 
help to mechanics, factory hands, clerks, 
and all people who live in or near small 
towns. Thanks to this modern wonder, 
they can live several miles away from their 
work, thus getting cheaper rents and bet- 
ter surroundings for their children ; they 
can save car-fares, and get healthful exer- 
cise. For the unfortunate dwellers in cities 
it offers recreation after working-hours, and 

177 



The Wheel of To-Day 

induces thousands who would never walk 
to get out into the air, and find out for 
themselves that life without out-door ex- 
ercise is not living. 

How tremendous has been the change 
in the fortunes of the nickel-plated steed 
within the last five or six years can only 
be realized by those who remember the 
first bicycle exhibitions of a few years ago, 
and can compare them with the wonderful 
show held last January (1895) * n tne Mad- 
ison Square Garden in New York. The 
early shows were held in dingy little halls, 
and attended by a few thousand persons, 
who were looked upon by the majority of 
other people as grown-up children. The 
bicycle was still a toy five or six years ago. 
Half a dozen manufacturers exhibited 
their wares; and the pneumatic tire, then 
a curiosity imported from England, was 
viewed with interest, but much doubt as 
to its practical usefulness. The wheel was 
still something of a curiosity as a machine 
for grown men ; while women who braved 
public opinion far enough to ride one in 
public were looked upon with suspicion. 

The high 52-inch wheel, upon which 
the rider perched himself at the risk of 
his neck, was still the only one in com- 
mon use; and had the "Safety" pattern 

178 



The Wheel of To-Day 

not appeared, it is pretty certain that we 
should see but little more of the bicycle 
now than we did then. When I look at 
the high wheel to-day I rather wonder 
that any one was ever reckless enough or 
skilful enough to ride it. 
It was a matter of weeks 
to learn to get on it at all, 
and of months to ride it 
well ; many persons who 
tried gave 
it up after 




The Grand Circle at Fi/ty-7iinth Street and Eighth Avenue, New York. 

a few bad falls. At best, the big wheels 
of a few years ago were fit only for ath- 
letic young men ; they were out of the 
question for all other persons, and of course 
for women. The pneumatic tire has been 
credited with the rapid growth of the 



179 



The Wheel of To-Day 

bicycle craze, but the introduction of the 
" Safety " pattern has had much more to 
do with it. The pneumatic tire adapted 
to a high wheel only made it higher and 
heavier. When a wheel was offered that 
any one — man, woman, or child — could 
learn to ride well inside of a fortnight, that 
exposed the rider to no dangerous falls 
while learning, and that possessed all the 
speed of the high wheel, with none of 
its dangers, then, seemingly, every one 
began to talk bicycles. Now no one is 
too old or too young to ride a " Safety,' ' 
and the woman who objects to bicycling 
is soon likely to be looked upon as more 
eccentric than her sister who skims along 
the road in bloomers. 

While the " Safety " pattern made the 
bicycle possible to every one, of course the 
pneumatic tire is a great invention. Per- 
sons who have never studied the action of 
this tire may not realize that its purpose is 
not merely to act as a spring or cushion, 
but much more. Some pretty experiments 
made this last winter make this clear. It 
was shown that upon a perfectly smooth 
board floor less power was required to pro- 
pel a steel-rimmed wheel than one with a 
pneumatic tire. But let a few fine peb- 
bles be sprinkled upon the track, and then 



The Wheel of To-Day 

the power required for the steel tire had 
to be doubled, and even tripled, while that 
for the pneumatic tire required only a slight 
increase. The reason is simple enough. 
Whenever the steel rim encounters an ob- 
struction the whole wheel and the weight 
it supports has to be lifted in order to go 
over it; with the- pneumatic tire the peb- 
ble simply makes a dent in the soft tire, 
which passes over it without rising. A 
country road, or almost any road except a 
smooth floor, offers to the wheel a succes- 
sion of minute obstacles. The power re- 
quired to haul a rubber-tire vehicle loaded 
with 300 pounds over a fairly good gravel 
road averages 20 pounds, with a maximum 
of 26 pounds ; with a steel-tired vehicle 
on the same road the average was 41 
pounds and the maximum 79 pounds, or 
three times the resistance of the rubber 
tire. Hence the remarkable gain in pow- 
er as well as in comfort effected by the air 
tire.* 

At the show of last January every inch 
of space in the vast building seemed to be 
utilized for the display of bicycles, and 
more was needed. One or two prominent 
manufacturers felt so aggrieved at the small 

* For a full report of these experiments, see Good Roads for 
January, 1895. 

181 



The IVheel of To-Day 

quarters offered them, that they refused to 
exhibit in the Garden, and organized shows 
of their own outside. Experts at figures 
estimated that at least thirty million dollars 
of capital were represented. There were 
nearly one hundred different makes of bi- 
cycles shown by eighty firms, while a score 
of manufacturers exhibited nothing but bi- 
cycle accessories, such as tires, saddles, lan- 
terns, cyclometers, etc. For a whole week 
the place was crowded. 

Various estimates have been made of 
the output of bicycles for 1895, the fig- 
ures running as high as four hundred thou- 
sand. The sales of wheels last year are 
said to have been two hundred and fifty 
thousand. It is generally reported that the 
business has taken a sudden jump within 
the last six months, and almost all the 
manufacturers have been running their 
factories night and day. An important 
feature of the business, from the manufac- 
turer's stand, is the growing export trade 
to Mexico and South America, and even 
to Europe and Australia. At a bicycle 
tournament held in the city o£ Mexico 
last January, our American riders carried 
off most of the prizes ; the whole popula- 
tion seemed to be bitten with the bicycle 
craze. English and French manufacturers 

182 



The Wheel of To-Day 

have endeavored to keep our machines out, 
but without success. The Mexicans found, 
as we have already found here, that the 
English standard bicycles are heavier by 
ten pounds than our own, without any 
compensating advantages. 

In one respect the bicycle show was 
peculiar ; all classes seemed to be repre- 
sented. At the horse show, for instance, 
or the dog show, the mechanic is never 
seen ; at the bicycle show I noticed hun- 
dreds of men, evidently prosperous me- 
chanics, who had come to see more of a 
machine that offered them at once econ- 
omy and recreation, a healthful exercise 
and a saving of car-fares in getting to and 
from their daily work. One manufacturer 
to whom I mentioned this feature of the 
show said that bicycle-makers were par- 
ticularly interested in the hundreds of bi- 
cycle agents from all over the country who 
came there every morning, and who wanted 
machines to sell to workingmen. There 
was not, he said, a village of five hundred 
inhabitants within a thousand miles of New 
York that would not have its regular bicy- 
cle agent this summer. " I really believe/* 
said he, a shrewd Yankee, " that between 
electric cars in cities and the bicycle in the 
country, the value of horse-flesh will drop 

183 



The Wheel of To-Day 

almost to nothing within the next twenty 
years. The time is fast coming when a 
good, serviceable machine will be sold for 
5650, or less. Already in every village and 
town the mechanic and factory hand goes 
to his work on his wheel, the postman takes 
his letters around on one ; even the doctor 
and the clergyman make their rounds on 
wheels. It is far more than a recreation. 
And these hundreds of agents all talk of 
the wheel they are going to offer in their 
towns, not as a sporting machine, but 
as an every-day necessity ; they want to 
know about the durability and the prac- 
tical work to be got out of a wheel, and 
its value to the mechanic and shop-clerk." 
I was glad to find a manufacturer who 
would admit that we should some day get 
good machines for less than $50. Per- 
sonally I am satisfied that a poor bicycle 
is a most costly affair. At the same time, 
the price asked for the best machines, al- 
though it has dropped this year from $150 
to $125 for specials, and from $125 to 
$ 1 00 for standards, still seems out of pro- 
portion to the actual cost. It is said that 
a good sewing-machine costs less than $10 
to make ; and it is hard to see why a 
good bicycle cannot be sold at a fair profit 
for $50 or less. Probably when the sup- 

184 



The Wheel of To-Day 

<7W 




The Start from the Westchester Country Club. 



ply catches up with the demand it will 
be. This year's cut in prices is a promise 
of better things to come. 

Among the novelties of last winter's 
show the greatest interest seemed to be 
aroused by the motor bicycle, the hill- 
climbing attachments, the bamboo and 

185 



The Wheel of To-Day 

aluminum frames, and the tandems. The 
motor bicycle, as its name implies, is one 
to which a hot-air motor, worked by 
naphtha or kerosene, is attached. It has 
been used a little in the western part of 
this State, but until this last show we had 
seen nothing of it here. In appearance 
the motor bicycle is longer than the ordi- 
nary " Safety," and its whole build is 
stronger and more clumsy ; its frame is 
solid, and its tires are of what is known 
as the Jumbo type, — enormous affairs, 
three inches in diameter. The motor, or 
rather motors, for there are two, one on 
each side of the rear wheel, are small 
enough to be contained in brass cylinders 
about a foot long and four inches in di- 
ameter. The supply of oil or naphtha is 
carried in a cylinder placed near the han- 
dle-bar, from which the oil trickles down 
to the motor through one of the frame 
tubes. The pair of motors weigh but 
twelve pounds, and are said to furnish 
two-horse power at an expense of one 
gallon of oil for one hundred miles. The 
oil is ignited at every stroke of the piston 
by an electric spark. There are foot- 
cranks for use in case the motor should 
give out. The danger of explosion is 
said to be nothing. On the day of my 

1 86 



The Wheel of To-Day 

visit the motor bicycle was not working 
as usual in the basement, owing to some 
accident. Some of the habitues of the 
show, who had seen the thing run, told 
me that it seemed to work well enough, 
but made a good deal of hissing noise. 
Admitting that it will do all that its man- 
ufacturers say, the present cost will prove 
an obstacle to its wide introduction, the 
cheapest form being sold at $275, and an- 
other, — a four-wheeled affair, — at $500. 
Within the last two years several forms 
of hill-climbers have come into use, all of 
them, however, constructed upon virtually 
the same principle, — the introduction of 
a gearing which shall cause the pedal to 
make fewer revolutions in proportion to 
that of the driving or rear wheel ; in other 
words, such devices increase the leverage 
of the pedal. An old and experienced bi- 
cyclist, fond of " century runs," or one 
hundred miles at a stretch, — which I am 
not, — remarks that so far as he has been 
able to find out, these hill-climbing devices 
work well enough, but he doubts their 
value. If the hill is too hard to ride 
up, it is steep enough to walk up. Any 
device to change the gearing at will adds 
just so much to the cost and intricacy of 
the machine. I may add, however, that 

187 



The Wheel of To-Day 

such advice may apply to strong and sea- 
soned riders, who can " pedal " over hills 
up which the ordinary bicyclist is obliged 
to foot it. 

The much-talked-of bamboo and alumi- 
num bicycles may come under the head of 
attempts to get rid of weight. In the bam- 
boo bicycle, rods of polished bamboo, let 
into aluminum castings, are used for the 
frame instead of steel ; a steel wire tight- 
ened by nuts runs through each rod. The 
gain in lightness is not great, but the makers 
claim that the machine runs with more 
elasticity. Speaking of lightness, alumi- 
num seems likely to achieve wonders for 
the bicycle in the near future, provided its 
tendency to corrode under salt air and wa- 
ter can be corrected. Some of the light- 
weight machines were wonderful, especially 
one weighing less than nine pounds, which 
was ridden at the show by a man weigh- 
ing more than two hundred pounds. Five 
years ago the average weight of the road bi- 
cycle was from forty to fifty pounds. Now 
anything weighing more than twenty-five 
pounds is looked upon with disfavor. 

The tandems, upon which, as the name 
implies, two riders sit, one behind the 
other, and the duplex bicycles, in which 
the riders sit side by side on a sort of tri- 



The Wheel of To-Day 

cycle, were much in evidence at the show, 
but do not seem to be gaining favor so fast 
as the single bicycle. The power used to 
propel the best form of tricycle is nearly 
three times that required for a bicycle, so 
that, even divided between two riders, there 
is a loss as compared to the bicycle. It is 
also to be said that there are thousands of 
miles of country road upon which a bicy- 
clist can find a suitable path, a foot or two 
wide, where a tricyclist would have a hard 
time of it. Also, that where the road is 
broad and level enough for a tricycle, two 
bicyclists can run along side by side, near 
enough for conversation ; while, when it 
narrows, they can take up single file again. 

Of bicycling accessories at the show 
there was no end. Good lamps and cy- 
clometers may now be had for half what 
they used to cost. Saddles are wonder- 
fully improved, the newest saddle being 
made of wire springs, looking like piano 
wires, which, if durable, ought to be per- 
fection, as it is light, cool, and yielding. 

With regard to a number of points con- 
cerning the bicycle and its use, more can 
be learned in five minutes' talk with any 
intelligent agent or amateur than can be 
told here in many pages. The height of 
the saddle, the safe distances for a begin- 

191 



The 11 'heel of To-Day 

ner to attempt, the best ways of learning 
to ride, depend almost wholly upon the 
rider. Some riders like a high-geared 
wheel, — for instance, sixty-six or more 
inches ; that is to say, one in which every 
full turn of the pedal is equivalent to the 
revolution of a wheel sixty-six or more 
inches in diameter. The higher the gear, 
of course, the more power required at the 
pedal ; for which reason the low gears, not 
exceeding sixty-three inches, are best for 
all-day work in touring. With a very high 
gear hill-climbing is out of the question. 
Concerning the details of equipment, — 
whether with a brake or without, single 
or double tires, mud-guards or no guards, 
metal or wood rims, rubber or rat-trap 
pedals, each rider must decide. The pres- 
ent tendency is to do away with every 
superfluous ounce of weight, and brakes, 
guards, rubber pedals, all mean weight, and 
are not essentials. The battle between the 
tire-makers as to the comparative value of 
single or double tires is not over. Both 
have advantages. The double tire, — one 
thin rubber tube containing the air, pro- 
tected by a stout outer tubing, — -is not so 
easy to repair as the single tire, but neither 
is it so easily punctured. Wooden rims 
seem to be having the preference over 
* 192 



The Wheel of To-Day 

metal ; but some of the aluminum rims 
are equal to wood in every way, and even 
lighter. 

So delicate a piece of machinery as a bi- 
cycle of course needs care. Every agent 
will explain how it must be oiled, — one 
oiling to a hundred miles is the usual rule, — 
and the chain rubbed with the mixture of 
plumbago and tallow sold for that purpose. 
After use, the machine should be cared for 
as conscientiously as a good gun, if it is to 
do its best work. 

To the beginner in bicycling I should 
like to say, Beware of the cheap bicycle ! 
I know of nothing more disheartening than 
to have a trip, upon which one may have 
counted for weeks, cut short by the break- 
down of a machine. Of course accidents 
will happen to the best of bicycles, but as 
a rule they are not serious enough to ne- 
cessitate long delays. You may run over 
a piece of broken glass thrown upon the 
highway by some fiend in human shape, 
and thus puncture your tire ; or a spoke 
may break, or a nut work loose. But in 
such cases, if you cannot make the repair 
yourself, — which usually you can, — there 
is a bicycle shop in almost every village 
nowadays where such things maybe made 
right. But when the mishap is due to 

193 



The Wheel of To-Day 

radical weakness or bad workmanship in 
the tire, the frame, or the castings, the 
best thing to do is either to sell the ma- 
chine for what it will bring, or never ven- 
ture more than ten miles away from home. 
I once made the blunder of getting a cheap 
bicycle for my boy. No one would im- 
agine that a bicycle could have so many 
failings as that one developed. Its maker's 
motto might have been, " For Repairs 
Only." It was a fortune to the man 
who repaired it. As fast as one break 
was patched up another appeared. Several 
most promising expeditions were broken 
up by the failure of that rotten machine. 
One day we started off, my boy and I, to 
ride from Stamford, Conn., to New Lon- 
don, by way of Long Island, crossing the 
Sound at Bridgeport. It was a week's trip 
that we had planned for months, and we 
got lots of pleasure out of the planning 
and anticipation. In fact, all the pleasure 
we got out of the trip was of this kind. 
Our start was a delightful one, early on a 
lovely June morning when it was a pleas- 
ure to breathe, to say nothing of riding a 
bicycle. Through Darien and Norwalk 
we pushed gayly on, counting upon reach- 
ing Bridgeport, a distance of twenty-five 
miles, before the noonday sun got a chance 

194 



Tlie Wlieel of To-Day 



at us. For perhaps the tenth time I ex- 
claimed that a bicycle tour was one of the 
joys of life, when, Bang ! — like the explo- 
sion of a pistol, the rear tire of my boy's 
wheel burst. He had run over no glass 
or nails ; the tire had simply exploded in 
a long slit with which we could do noth- 
ing. That was the- end of our expedition. 
We got the wheel to the next town, where 
an expert told us that he could mend the 
break, but that the same thing would hap- 
pen again in an hour. The tire was sim- 
ply too cheap or rotten for the work. 

There are people who declare that there 
is a certain maliciousness about a bicycle's 
behavior nothing short of the miraculous. 
Doubtless we riders all remember the de- 
light every bicycle takes in guiding the 
beginner straight toward any big bowlder 
that may be in sight ; the road may be 
fifty feet wide, and that the only bowlder 
within half a mile, but do what we may, 
the bicycle makes unerringly for that stone, 
even if it takes us twenty feet out of our 
way to do it. And if there is anything 
the bicycle likes better than a big, sharp 
bowlder, it is a deep puddle. A muddy 
hole of any kind is a perfect magnet to 
the bicycle when ridden by a beginner. 
Experts insist that the beginner's own ner- 

195 



The Wheel of To-Day 



vous fear is at the bottom of such mishaps, 
but the beginner knows better. 

A strong confirmation of the theory that 
credits bicycles with innate viciousness is 
to be found in the fact that when bicycles 
do break down it is always just where 
the accident will give the rider the utmost 
trouble. In my time I have had a good 
many annoying accidents happen to my bi- 
cycles, but never within a mile or two of 
home. I could ride my wheel over broken 
glass and tin cans all summer if only I kept 
near home. But let me decide upon a 
touring-trip, and start off, — unless I have 
a really first-class machine, something is 
sure to happen. In the course of one 
short tour last summer I was unlucky 
enough to break one of the frame-bars 
the second day out, and the pedal-crank 
the third day. The frame I patched up 
with the aid of some wire and a friendly 
blacksmith. The pedal-crank, a piece of 
steel, could not be fixed. And of course 
that crank broke when I was fifteen miles 
from a railway station, in a forsaken dis- 
trict near Salem, back of New London. 
There was a flaw in the casting. It was 
the hottest day of a hot summer, — July 
20, — and the accident happened about 
noon, the hottest part of the day. It is 

196 



The II 'heel of To-Day, 




At the Michaux Club, New York. 



The Wheel of To-Day 

bad enough to know that you will have 
to give up your trip, for a new crank-bar 
takes time to get. It is worse to have to 
trundle a wrecked machine for miles, stop- 
ping at every farmhouse, like Mr. Pick- 
wick with his balky horse, to ask for help. 
Finally, after risking sunstroke for an hour 
or two, I found a boy who drove me to New 
London, reaching there after six o'clock. 
I never swear ; if I did, it would be upon 
such an occasion, when a rascally manu- 
facturer sells something that will not do 
the work it is bought to do. That one or 
two such experiences do not disgust one 
forever with bicycling shows the charm of 
the thing. A poor bicycle is a most costly 
investment. 

In the manufacturing town where I live 
in winter, I know scores of men who get 
pleasure and profit out of their bicycles by 
riding to and from their work ; and I know, 
also, that there are thousands of city men 
and women who delight in spinning along 
the asphalt pavement of the boulevards 
after the day's office-work is done. Such 
use of the bicycle is well enough so far as 
it goes; but for those who can make the 
opportunity, the greatest boon the machine 
offers is the possibility of roaming over 
much interesting country at small expense. 

199 



The Wheel of To-Day 

Take, for instance, the usual fortnight's 
vacation of most city men, and see what 
may be accomplished with the aid of a 
good bicycle. In a fortnight, if the rider 
has kept himself in good condition by 
practice after business hours, he can make 
a distance of six hundred miles with ease, 
more than twice what he could do on foot, 
or even with a horse, and at no more ex- 
pense than on a walking-tour. If he is a 
member of the League of American Wheel- 
men, a privilege costing but a dollar a year, 
he will be able to get lower hotel rates than 
the rest of the world. This League, by 
the way, publishes the best maps for tour- 
ing that we have, giving an account of the 
condition of the various roads a bicyclist 
may take in travelling from one place to 
another, with a list of the hotels where he 
may expect a welcome at reduced rates. 

Six hundred miles in a fortnight is about 
as much as most people will want to make 
for pleasure. It is possible to ride one hun- 
dred miles in a day, and experts will keep 
this rate up for a week at a time. My own 
practice when touring is to get off as early 
in the morning as possible, and yet not too 
early to get a good breakfast. I ride at 
about six miles an hour, seldom more than 
that unless I am in a hurry, getting off to 



The Wheel of To- Day 



walk up all hills that deserve the name, 
and stopping to pick a flower or admire a 
view whenever the spirit prompts. 

By starting at seven o'clock, which is 
not an early hour in summer, — six o'clock 
is better, — I have made my thirty miles 
at noon. During the morning I am pretty 
sure to pass a baker's shop where good 
things are on view ; and I buy some rolls 
or crackers, carrying the bag with me un- 
til I come to some quiet^nook, the bank 
of a stream by preference, where I can 
wash, eat my luncheon, take a look at the 
morning paper bought in the last village, 
and smoke a pipe. The noon stop does 
not last more than an hour. By one o'clock 
I am a- wheel again, and ready for the three 
hours' run that will finish my fifty miles at 
four o'clock, when, if my route is rightly 
planned, I ought to reach some town or 
village where I find a suitable hotel. Once 
there, I put on fresh underclothes, the soiled 
clothes of the ride going to the laundress to 
be washed out at once ; and I am ready for 
an inspection of the town at the pleasant- 
est hour of the day, — when the sun gets 
low, and every one turns out for a breath 
of air. And, no matter what the heat, I 
am ready for the best dinner that mine host 
can offer, and a good night's sleep. Such 



201 



The Wheel of To-Day 

touring need not cost more than two dol- 
lars a day for each person. 

I know that some men, fond of touring, 
adopt a wholly different plan, — they ride 
early in the morning and late in the after- 
noon, taking a long rest in some shady nook 
during the heat of the day. For several 
reasons, and after trying both ways, I pre- 
fer to make my day's journey in practically 
one stretch. In the first place, on account 
of clothing. Except in really cold weather 
the bicyclist is pretty sure to find himself 
covered with dust and bathed in perspi- 
ration at the end of his morning's ride. 
Therefore, if a stop of several hours is to 
be made, he must change clothing by the 
roadside, and either wash it out himself in 
some stream, or carry it with him till night. 
He must take it off, or he will catch cold, 
sitting and sleeping in the shade. In the 
next place, unless he knows the road ex- 
actly, and the distance he has to make, he 
will feel more or less hurried ; the chances 
are two to one that he will arrive at his 
stopping-place covered with dust, his sec- 
ond suit of underclothes soaked in perspi- 
ration, late for dinner, and too tired to en- 
joy it. By the time he has washed and 
dressed, dined or supped, he is too tired to 
look about the town, which may be well 



The Wheel of To-Day 

worth the attention ; and he thus loses 
what to me is one of the pleasures of my 
trips, — the stroll along streets that are new 
to me, and the sight of hundreds of strange 
and sometimes pretty faces. To wander 
around a quaint New England town wholly 
new to me, to watch the shopkeepers light 
up their wares for the evening, to see the 
life and brightness of the place as the elec- 
tric lights burst forth, and the streets fill 
with people, — all the people in these 
small towns seem to do their shopping 
in the evening, — and perhaps to end by a 
visit to the local theatre, — all this consti- 




Tea at the Michaux Club. 
203 



The Wheel of To-Day 

tutes a feature of a tour that I prize. Or 
I may go to church. In either theatre 
or church you may see the people of the 
town face to face, and learn more about 
them than by days of loitering in their 
streets. 

A friend with whom I once made a bi- 
cycle tour believes that the expense of such 
trips could be much reduced by eliminating 
the hotel, and camping out. His plan ne- 
cessitates the carriage of some sort of tent, 
cooking utensils, and food to last for a meal 
or two. I have never tried it, but may do 
so this summer. We propose to use a light 
drill for tent material, the two bicycles 
forming the ridge-pole, and the tent be- 
ing thus not more than three feet high, a 
mere covered hole to crawl into when bed- 
time comes. Aluminum cooking utensils 
might be used. Firewood may be found 
anywhere. If cooking is out of the ques- 
tion, owing to the weight of the apparatus, 
it would be easy to buy one's meals in the 
villages. The objections to this scheme 
are apparent ; and except to show upon 
how few cents a day one may enjoy the 
pleasures of travel, I have my doubts about 
it. To make a comfortable bed on the 
ground will require much clothing, which 
again means weight. There is also the 

204 



The Wheel of To-Day 

danger of catching cold, the difficulty of 
getting washing done, etc. 

While talking of weight, it may be 
worth while to say something of the tour- 
ing outfit that I have found most conven- 
ient. The best clothes-carrier is the flat, 
triangular bag built to fit between the 
frame-bars ; it is better than a knapsack 
strapped to the handle-bar, because the 
weight is carried lower down, making 
the machine less top-heavy, and it leaves 
the handle-bar free for any light parcel. 
My outfit consists of three light outing- 
shirts, three suits of gauze underclothing, 
a dark flannel bicycle suit, laced tanned 
gaiters, light-weight rubber coat, comb, 
clothes-, hair- and tooth-brushes, soap and 
towel, cup, writing-pad and pencil, map 
and matches ; and, of course, the regular 
kit of tools, and materials for road repairs. 
Another suit of clothes suitable for calls 
and Sundays would be pleasant to have, 
and other shirts and shoes; but this means 
weight. Now that the bicyclist's knick- 
erbockers are seen everywhere in summer, 
even at the theatre and in church, it is 
hardly necessary to carry more than essen- 
tials. An umbrella is not needed. If one 
has a rubber coat for stormy weather, he 
can ride, rain or no rain, while it is next 

205 



The Wheel of To-Day 

to impossible to ride and carry an umbrella, 
whether for sun or rain. Gaiters are bet- 
ter than low shoes, which are apt to fill 
with sand when the road is too soft to ride. 

To come back to my point of begin- 
ning : When a good and safe flying-ma- 
chine is introduced at a price that I can 
afford, I shall perhaps abandon my bicycle. 
Until that time, — and I am very much 
afraid that it will not be in my time, — I 
shall hold fast to it. I see nothing to com- 
pare with it, not even the pneumatic skate- 
roller, upon which experts in England are 
said to have made as high as twelve miles 
an hour upon a fair road. How about 
hills? The slightest rise in the road must 
compel the foot bicyclist to take off his 
skates, and carry them over his shoulder. 

I shall hold fast to my pneumatic 
" Safety," thanks to which. I have enjoyed 
scores of days that live in the memory. 
The bicycle tempts one out-doors. There 
is something about bicycling and tennis- 
playing that enables one to enjoy either 
when the mercury rises to a point where 
all other exercise seems forbidden. Upon 
days when I should hesitate to take out a 
horse, I have enjoyed a quiet turn upon 
my wheel. There is an independence 
about it that one doesn't feel in driving. 

206 



The Wheel of To-Day 



Keep a note-book, and when your sum- 
mer's tour is over, count up how many 
glorious days, how many bits of scenery 
and of adventure, are well worth remem- 
bering. It is only from the top of a hill 
that one gets all there is of beauty in a 
fine sunset. Sometimes, when belated, I 
have enjoyed from my wheel pictures of 
the dying day so glorious, bursts of color 
so resplendent, as to make one regret the 
shortness of life if for no other reason than 
that such superb triumphs of color have 
rilled the skies before we were here to see 
them, and will continue to glow for gen- 
erations after we are gone. To paraphrase 
Mr. Gilbert's " Pooh Bah," there will be 
sunsets without end ; we may not see 
them, but they will be there. 

To wheel quietly up and down hill and 
across the valley, miles away from so-called 
civilization, and yet knowing that with a 
good bicycle miles mean but little ; to 
wheel along, drinking in the perfumes of 
the morning with the songs of the birds, 
and at even, thankful for the matchless 
glow in the w T est and the music of the 
cow-bells, to wheel silently at sunset into 
some peaceful village where your guide- 
book bids you expect a welcome, — and 
at reduced rates, — all this is worth cele- 
207 



The Wheel of To-Day 

brating. The use of travel, says Dr. John- 
son, is to regulate the imagination by real- 
ity. Thanks to the bicycle, we have the 
joys and benefits of this discipline almost 
without cost, and without the fatigue in- 
cident to prolonged tramps on foot. 



208 




II. Woman and the Bicycle 

V 

By Margtierite Merington 

HE collocation of woman and 
1 the bicycle has not wholly 
outgrown controversy; but 
if the woman's taste be for 
yp the royal pleasure of glow- 
ing exercise in sunlit air, she 
will do well quietly but firmly 
to override argument with the best model 
of a wheel to which she may lay hand. 

Never did an athletic pleasure from which 
the other half is not debarred come into 
popularity at a more fitting time than cy- 
cling has to-day, when a heavy burden of 
work is laid on all the sisterhood, whether 
to do good, earn bread, or squander leisure ; 
no outdoor pastime can be more indepen- 
dently pursued, and few are as practicable as 
many days in a year. The one who fain 
would ride, and to whom a horse is a wist- 
ful dream, at least may hope to realize a 
wheel. Once purchased, it needs only to 
be stabled in a passageway, and fed on oil 
and air. 

209 



Woman and the Bicycle 



The first women cyclists of New York 
City seemed to rise in a heroic handful 
from the earth near Grant's tomb, on Riv- 
erside Drive. That was years ago. To- 
day, on the broad western highway of the 
city a dotted line of riders, men and women, 
forms a fourth parallel to the dark band 
which the Palisades stretch across the sky, 
the Hudson's silver width, and the white 
thread of flying smoke from the trains be- 
side the river. They ride from the first 
day of spring to the last privileged days 
of frosty winter. They ride from morning 
to high noon, and their lanterned wheels 
purr by with the gleam of a cat's eye 
through the dark. A moon sends hordes 
of their queer cobwebby shadows scurry- 
ing over the ground. In the revolving 
years, to the eyes of those whose windows 
overlook the wheelways, the woman cyclist 
has ceased to be a white blackbird. The 
clear-eyed, vivified faces that speed by give 
no clew to the circumstances of the riders, 
but inquiry shows that many callings and 
conditions love the wheel. The woman 
of affairs has learned that an hour, or even 
half an hour, may be stolen from the work- 
ing day, with profit to both woman and 
affairs. Now and again a complaint arises 
of the narrowness of woman's sphere For 



210 



Woma.7i mid the Bicycle 

such disorder of the soul 
the sufferer can do no bet- 
ter than to flatten her 
sphere to a circle, mount 
it, and take to the road. 
An hour of the wheel 
means sixty minutes 
of fresh air and 
wholesome exer- 
cise, and 
at least 
eight 
miles of 
change 
of scene ; 
it may 




Correct Position. 



well be 

put down to the credit side of the day's 

reckoning with flesh and spirit. 

Like all costumes, the regimentals of the 
wheel are affected by locality and racial 
prejudice. An American skirt found itself 
in a conspicuous minority in France, and 
resigned, accordingly, in favor of a pair 
of national culottes, — excellent things for 
the breakneck hills of Normandy ! — the 
culottes crossed to England, and were ex- 
changed for a short corduroy skirt with 
high leggings. The corduroy skirt and leg- 
gings journeyed to Toronto, where the roads 



211 



Woman ajid the Bicycle 

are flat and smooth as a billiard table, and 
the ministers as conservative as eloquent. 
To escape becoming an object of reproach, 
the short skirt of the mother country was 
lengthened to the standard of the colonies. 
Returning to New York, the Toronto 
compromise took several tucks in itself in 
order to conquer the V-shaped roads of 
Gotham. 

In cosmopolitan New York the eye of 
the spectator has long become wonted to 
costumes of all kinds. Bloomer and tailor- 
made alike ride on unchallenged ; tunicked 
and gaitered Rosalinds excite no more 
comment than everyday people in every- 
day clothes. Knickerbockers and the skirt 
composed of twin filibegs have their ad- 
vocates ; Pinero's youngest Amazon has set 
a pretty fashion for the girl cyclist, and 
many riders make their records in the con- 
ventional walking-dress with cone-shaped 
skirt worn over the silk trousers of an oda- 
lisk, or the satin breeks of an operatic 
page. No one costume may yet claim to 
represent the pastime, for experiment is 
still busy with the problem ; but the results 
are in the direction of simplicity and first 
principles. So far the large majority of 
American women have declared in favor 
of the skirt in one form or another. Short 



Woman and the Bicycle 




213 



Woman and the Bicycle 

rides on level roads can be accomplished 
with but slight modification of ordinary 
attire ; and the sailor-hat, shirt-waist, serge- 
skirt uniform, is as much at home on the bi- 
cycle as it is anywhere else the world over. 
The armies of women clerks in Chicago 
and Washington who go by wheel to busi- 
ness, show that the exercise within bounds 
need not impair the spick-and-spandy neat- 
ness that marks the bread-winning Amer- 
ican girl. On the excursion a special 
adaptation of dress is absolutely necessary ; 
for skirts, while they have not hindered 
women from climbing to the topmost 
branches of the higher education, may 
prove fatal in down-hill coasting ; and 
skirts, unless frankly shortened or dis- 
carded, must be fashioned so as to mini- 
mize the danger of entanglement with 
the flying wheel. 

The pastime does not lend itself to per- 
sonal display; and in criticism the costume 
must be referred, not to the standards of 
the domestic hearthrug, but to the exi- 
gencies of the wheel, the rider's positions 
to the mechanical demands of the motion. 
Accordingly, the cyclist is to be thought 
of only as mounted and in flight, belong- 
ing not to a picture, but to a moving 
panorama. If she ride well, the chances 

215 



Woman and the Bicycle 

are she looks well ; for she will have rec- 
onciled grace, comfort, and the tempo- 
rary fitness of things. 

Regarding bicycling purely as exercise, 
there is an advantage in the symmetry of 
development it brings about, and a danger 
in riding too fast and far. The occasional 
denunciation of the pastime as unwomanly 
is fortunately lost in the 
general approval that a new 
and wholesome recreation 
has been found, whose pur- 
suit adds joy and vigor to 
the dowry of the 
race. 

Having reached 
these con- 
clusions, 
the on- 
looker is 
drawn by 
the irre- 
sistible force 
of the stream. She borrows, hires, or buys 
a wheel, and follows tentatively. Her point 
of view is forever after changed ; long be- 
fore practice has made her an expert she 
is an enthusiast, ever ready to proselyte, 
defend — or ride ! 

There is full opportunity in and about 
216 




Correct Position. 



Woman and the Bicycle 

New York City for the daily hour with 
the wheel. From Christmas to Christ- 
mas Central Park is a favorite haunt of 
the cyclist when the weather is kind ; and 
indeed a fine frenzy once set rolling the 
eye of a poet, who told of a wintry flight 
among snow-laden pine-trees over sheets 
of frozen snow. It -sounded like a Norse 
Saga; but the scene was Central Park, the 
steed a wheel, and the story true. River- 




A " Scorcher" — Wrong Position. 



side Drive and the Boulevard offer fair 
roads and a breeze coming fresh from the 
sources of the Hudson, untainted as it 
sweeps by Albany ; the historic ground of 
Washington Heights is practicable as well 
as picturesque, for the Father of his Coun- 
try outlined a clear march for the city's 



217 



IVomaii and the Bicycle 

gigantic stride ; Washington Bridge is a 
fine objective point, where the rider will 
surely dismount to rest in the embrasure 
of the parapets, and admire the view up 
and down stream where the little Har- 
lem wriggles along between its high green 
banks. For the longer ride, by crossing 
Madison Avenue Bridge a wheel-worthy 
road leads to Westchester and Mount Ver- 
non. There is a ferry at Fort Lee, and a 
good road even in New Jersey, skirting 
the trap-rock battlements at whose base 
the Hudson lies like a broad moat. Peo- 
ple who return from Tarrytown speak 
rather boastfully of the hills. 

Far-reaching dreams of summer may 
bear the traveller of the wheel through 
clean stretches in the Berkshires, on sunny 
lanes of Normandy, among Welsh moun- 
tains, or down Roman roads between Eng- 
lish hedgerows; but all the workaday year 
there are highways radiating from the heart 
of the city to the borderland of the coun- 
try, where one may breathe new inspira- 
tion for the world, — the world that we 
persist in having too much with us in the 
getting and spending efforts that lay waste 
the powers. 



218 



Woman and the Bicycle 



SPINNLIED. 

FOR GRETCHEN ON THE WHEEL. 

Good health to all, good pleasure, good speed, 
A favoring breeze — but not too high — ■ 

For the outbound spin ! Who rides may read 
The open secret of earth and sky. 

For life is quickened and pulses bound, 

Morbid questionings sink and die, 
As the wheel slips over the gliddery ground, 

And the young day wakes in a crimson sky. 

Oh, the merry comradeship of the road, 
With trees that nod as we pass them by, 

With hurrying bird and lurking toad, 
Or vagabond cloud in the noonday sky ! 

Oh, the wholesome smell of the good brown earth 
When showers have fallen for suns to dry ! 

Oh, the westward run to the mystic birth 
Of a silver moon in a golden sky ! 

Good health to all, good pleasure, good speed, 
A favoring breeze — but not too high — 

For the homeward spin ! Who rides may read 
The open secret of earth and sky. 



219 



III. A Doctor's View of Bicycling 

/ 

By J. WesrRoosevelt, M.D. 

1HEN a person whose muscu- 
lo lar system is not already well 
l^jj developed by other exercise 
IM^IIP^ v begins riding the bicycle, he 
k^lM^/Tfi will probably be surprised to 
find (unless the various bruises incidental 
to his first attempts are painful enough to 
mask all other aches), that the stiffness 
and soreness due to the unaccustomed work 
are not confined to the legs, or even the 
region of the hips. Probably he has more 
discomfort in the thighs than anywhere 
else ; but he soon learns that it is well to 
avoid too sudden movements of the whole 
body, for they cause not a little pain in 
various unexpected parts of the trunk, and 
especially in the loins and between the 
shoulder-blades. He discovers, also, that a 
number of muscles in his arms and shoul- 
ders and chest are more or less stiff and 
sore. In this painful way is it demon- 
strated to him that cycling should not be 
regarded as an exercise of the legs alone. 



m 



A Doctor 's P'iew of Bicycling 

Observations by 
experts show 
that it is not 
only the legs 
which are de- 
veloped by 
wheeling. In 
previously se- 
dentary persons a 
considerable in- 
crease in the cir- 
cumference of 
the chest takes 
place, the in- 
crease often 
amounting to 
one or two, and 
sometimes even 
three, inches. 
The arms and 
forearms also grow firmer, and it is said 
that in them also quite a marked increase 
in size has been seen. The muscular sys- 
tem everywhere in the body also improves 
in tone. 

It is easy to see why cycling increases 
the strength of the legs. It is also easy 
to see why the chest measurement should 
be increased as a result of the deeper and 
more rapid breathing. Not only do the 




At Rest — Muscles of Arm, Body, and 
Neck Relaxed. 



A Doctor 'j View of Bicycling 



--T-— ) 



respiratory mus- 
cles become 
stronger and 
larger, but also 
the joints and 
cartilages of the 
ribs move more 
easily and more 
freely, because 
they have been 
made more lim- 
ber by use. I do 
not know of any 
investigations 
which may have 
been made to de- 
termine whether 
or not there is 
any increased 
mobility of chest 
(i.e., extent of 
expansion and contraction), as a result of 
bicycle exercise ; but it is almost certain 
that such studies would demonstrate its 
existence. 

The muscles which we have been con- 
sidering are all directly " exercised/' as 
the word is usually understood, since they 
all contract and relax more frequently and 
more forcibly than when a person is either 

223 




In A ction — Muscles of Neck, Shotdder, 

A rm, and Upper Parts of tJie 

Body Contracted. 



A Doctor 's View of Bicycling 

at rest or doing very little work. I have 
said that the power of muscles not directly 
(or rather not visibly) employed is also in- 
creased. There are two reasons for this. 
One is that exercise, if not excessive (and 
especially exercise which is pleasurable, 
and which is taken in the open air), al- 
most always makes the appetite greater, 
the digestion completer, the heart stronger, 
and the circulation better; there is a gen- 
erally improved tone in every organ of the 
body, simply because all are better and 
more abundantly fed, including the mus- 
cles, both those which are actively used 
and those which are not. The second 
reason for the increase of power and size 
of many muscles which are not connected 
with the lower extremity, and which the 
superficial observer would think were not 
called into play in bicycling, is that they 
really are in active use, although they ap- 
pear to be at rest. For example, a large 
number are concerned in maintaining the 
equilibrium, so that the wheel does not 
fall sideways. This requires at times only 
a perfect balance of the forces of oppos- 
ing muscles, and at others enough contrac- 
tion of some of them to shift the weight 
by inclining the body to one side or the 
other. Others fix the lower portion of 
224 



A Doctor '5 View of Bicycling 




A Side View of A. A. Zimmerman in Racing- Position 
on a Wheel 0/ his own Design. 



A Doctor f s View of Bicycling 



the spine and hip-bones so as to enable 
the great thigh-muscles to work effectively. 
In the arms and forearms very delicate ad- 
justment is required in steering ; and when 
hill-climbing or increased speed demands 
it, a great deal of force is expended by the 
arms in the firm grip and strong upward 
pull on the handles which counteracts the 

strong downward 
push on the ped- 
als. 

There is one 
muscular struc- 
ture which bicy- 
cling, like every 
form of physical 
exertion, compels 
to do extra work, 
— the heart; and 
upon its integrity 
depend not only 
health and physi- 
cal vigor, but also 
life itself. It has 
often been assert- 
ed that wheeling 
is apt to injure 
the heart. Is this 
so ? I can only 
say that, theoret- 




Hear View of Zimmerman — At Rest. 

227 



A Doctor' 's View of Bicycling 



ically, it is impossible for such harm to 
result in sound people, save from attempts 
to attain a high rate of speed, or from 
prolonged and fatiguing rides, or from 
climbing hills which are either very steep 
or very long; and practically I have been 
unable to find authentic records of any case 
in which heart disease has been caused by 
the use of the wheel in a sensible and 
moderate way. It may be added that, 
in the opinion of a number of physicians 
of great ability, the existence of organic 
heart disease does not always debar cy- 
cling. Indeed, the wheel is actually rec- 
ommended by some as a valuable aid in 
the treatment of certain affections of this 
organ. There is a striking resemblance 
between bicycling and walking, so far as 
their effects on the heart are concerned : 
either may be healthful or harmful. Ex- 
cessive exertion in either is dangerous, 
and moderate exertion is beneficial. That 
cycling is more apt to do harm than walk- 
ing, can hardly be denied ; there is much 
more temptation to ride than to walk 
too fast on the level; and the hill-climb- 
ing on the machine, even at a moderate 
speed, is far more of a strain than walk- 
ing up the same hill at a speed propor- 
tionately moderate, and very few people 
228 







A Doctor 's View of Bicycling 

seem to have sense enough to get off and 
walk when going up hills. It is safe to 
assert that for a person capable of acting 
with common-sense no harm will come 
from either ; and certainly no more from 
one than from the 
other. If either 
in wheeling or 
walking shortness 
of breath is felt, 
one knows that an 
unwonted strain 
has been thrown 
upon the heart 
and lungs; and 
the intensity and 
duration of the 
breathlessness 
fairly measure the 
degree of strain. 
It is safe to as- 
sume that if nei- 
ther shortness of 
breath nor palpi- 
tation of the heart 
be felt, the strain 
is not excessive. 



m 



Rear View of Zimmerman — hi Action. 



* The pressure upon the right pedal, accompanied by strong 
contraction of the muscles of the right side, is especially well- 
marked near the shoulder. 



229 



A Doctor 's View of B icy sling 

A physician who has given much thought 
to the subject says that so long as the 
cyclist can breathe with the mouth shut, he 
is certainly perfectly safe so far as heart- 
strain is concerned. 

It has often been asserted that cycling is 
injurious to women. There is a little truth 
in the assertion. Paraphrasing one of Lin- 
coln's sentences, I would modify it, and say 
that cycling is harmful to some women all 
of the time ; to all women some of the 
time ; but not to all women all of the 
time. There is no reason to think that a 
healthy woman can be injured by using the 
wheel, provided she does not over-exert herself 
by riding too long a time, or too fast, or up 
too steep hills ; and provided she does not ride 
when common-sense and physiology alike for- 
bid any needless exertion ; and provided, also, 
she does not get the bad habit of stooping over 
the handle-bar ; and there is reason not 
merely to think, but to know, that many 
women are greatly benefited by the exer- 
cise. There are certain anatomical and 
physiological peculiarities which make it 
far more dangerous for a woman than for 
a man to undergo excessive physical strain ; 
but if she be careful to avoid strain, cycling 
is both beneficial and safe for any woman 
who is free from organic disease. 

230 



A Doctor s / T ieiu of Bicycli7ig 

The same may be said of men and chil- 
dren, and adolescents of either sex. If no 
organic disease exists, bicycling in moder- 
ation tends to increase strength and im- 
prove health, except in persons who find 
by practical trial that every ride, no matter 
how short and easy, is followed by a feel- 
ing of exhaustion. I do not mean merely 
a rather comfortable sense of fatigue ; I 
mean a weariness which is painful. Hu- 
man beings are not all built alike; and 
there are some people who, although they 
seem to be in good health, and to possess 
not a little physical strength, ought not to 
ride the wheel, simply because, for some 
unknown reason, they are not able to ride 
without injuring themselves. There is 
some peculiarity about their body ma- 
chinery which forbids its use in this par- 
ticular way. 

There is one bad habit into which many 
wheelmen have fallen (or perhaps one ought 
to say "slouched"), which calls for sharp 
condemnation, for reasons partly medical 
and partly aesthetic. There is absolutely 
no reason for stooping over the handles in 
either of the two ways so commonly seen, 
— and there is no excuse for so doing, — 
in ordinary road-riding. It may be neces- 
sary for the " scorcher," when engaged in 

231 



A Doctor 's View of Bicycling 

" scoixhing," to assume the one or the 
other of these attitudes, — to sprawl with 
the body straight, but almost horizontal, 
and the head close to the handle-bar, or to 
bend the upper part of the back as if try- 
ing to break it in its middle, and throw 
the shoulders forward as if desiring to make 
them meet across his breast. Even so, one 
who is not " scorching " does not need to 
make himself a hideous object to look at, 
and also to reduce the benefits of wheeling 
to a minimum, so far as its effect on the 
chest capacity is concerned. 

When high speed is attempted, the body 
must be bent forward, and the handles 
must be low. The stooping posture re- 
duces the surface exposed to the resisting 
air, and also makes possible the effective 
use of many more muscles than can be 
used when the cyclist sits erect, as do those 
on pages 211 and 216. The picture on 
page 225 is from a photograph of A. A. 
Zimmerman. It shows that wonderful 
rider in the position assumed by him when 
making his record-breaking speed. There 
is something singularly graceful about the 
curve of the spinal column, and the posi- 
tion of the arms and shoulders. It is the 
grace which comes from evident power. 
On page 217 is depicted a " scorcher " of 

232 



A Doctor 's View of Bicycling 

the ordinary type. He is simply a hideous 
caricature of the real athlete, — a man who 
does not know how to use his muscles 
engaged in a futile effort to look as if 
he did. 



233 



SURF AND SURF-BATHING 



By Duffleld Osborne 





giiiiimiiiiiiii'HiiMiii'miii'^'a'a'iii'W 



|iw»iiBii i Y[ g popularity of surf-bath- 



ing as a sport may be said to 
be of fairly recent growth in 
this country. Although few, 
perhaps, realize the fact, it is 
nevertheless true that most 
of the beaches where now the surf curls 
over networks of life-lines, and where the 
brown-faced bathing-master lounges, lazy, 
yet watchful, before hundreds of gayly clad 
pleasure-seekers, were solitudes but a few 
years since. The white-topped waves tum- 
bled one after another, unnoticed upon the 
gray shore; the sea-breeze played only with 
the rank grasses upon the dunes ; while cir- 
cling gull and tern screamed their confiden- 
tial communications to each other without 



237 



Surf and Surf- Bathing 

fear of being overheard by human eaves- 
droppers. 

Only on Saturdays, at the hour of full 
tide, did the scene change ; and then per- 
haps a farm-wagon or so rolled heavily 
down to where the ripples lapped the sand ; 
a stout rope was drawn from its coil under 
the seats, and tied firmly around the hub 
and axle ; a dilapidated fish-house lent itself 
for a change of garments, and finally some 
bronzed ex- whaler, with his bulky strength 
robed in a flannel shirt, and old trousers 
tied with ropes at waist and ankles, slipped 
his wrist through the hand-loop at the free 
end of the rope, and dragged it out into 
the surf, — a sort of human anchor-buoy, 
— while women, children, and less stur- 
dy manhood clung to its now tightening, 
now slackening length, and sputtered and 
shrieked over their Saturday bath. 

But, passing at a bound from farm- 
wagon, hand-looped rope, and ex-whaler 
to the less picturesque, but more effectual, 
appliances of to-day, the following is by all 
odds the simplest and best : Two parallel 
ropes, firmly anchored, and so elevated from 
the shore as to lie along the surface of the 
water, are run out to two heavy log-buoys, 
also anchored, at a distance of seventy-five 
yards, more or less, according to the char- 

238 



Surf and Surf- Bathing 

acter of both beach and surf. Half-way 
from the shore to the buoys these ropes 
should be connected by a transverse line, 
with cork-floats fastened at regular inter- 
vals, the distances being such that the 
cork-line shall rest upon the water some 
yards beyond the point where the heaviest 
breakers comb. If placed closer in-shore, 
it is likely to become a source of serious 
danger ; for diving beneath a heavy wave, 
and coming up under, or perhaps being 
thrown with more or less force against, 
a taut rope or a rough cork-buoy, has 
been the occasion of many painful hurts ; 
and serious injury can be very readily im- 
agined. 

Regard being had to the above caution, 
this system of life-lines is really safer than 
much more elaborate contrivances. Wo- 
men, children, and the inexperienced in 
general should keep within the rectangle 
formed by the shore, the long ropes, and 
the cork-line; and they would, moreover, 
do wisely to stay near that rope, lying upon 
the side from which the surf may " set." 
Then, if swept off their feet, the chances 
are all in favor of their being carried with- 
in reach of some support which will keep 
them up until assistance can be had. It 
seems hardly necessary to say that any such 

239 



Surf and Surf- Bathing 

complication of lines as is seen at some 
points of Coney Island, for instance, would 
be a danger, rather than a safeguard, in any 
surf heavy enough to " throw " a bather. 
A word as to bathing-costumes may be 
of some service here. A man's suit should 
be of flannel, because that material is both 
warm and light ; it should be made in one 
piece, sleeveless, reaching just to the knee, 
belted in at the waist, and, above all, close- 
fitting. 



There are few, now- 
adays, who do not ap- 
preciate the privilege of 
playing with 
the Atlantic 
Ocean; but 
perhaps there are fewer 
still who have ever taken 
the trouble to study the 
character and humors of 
their playmate — for he 
is full of tricks, this same 
ocean, and his jests are 
sometimes sadly practi- 
cal. He is all life and 
good spirits, the jolliest of jolly company, 
when he is in the humor ; but he must 

240 




Figure 



Surf and Surf- Bathbig 

be treated with tact, — tact born of a knowl- 
edge of his ways and moods ; and, above 
all, his would-be friends must learn to 
recognize when he is really angry, and 
then they must leave him to rave or 
grumble alone, until boisterous good-na- 
ture resumes its sway. 

Watch and note the character of the 
surf and the formation of the beach for a 
few days ; the knowledge gained may be 
useful. Do you see that line of breakers 
a quarter of a mile away ? There lies the 
bar ; and to-day the surf is heavy enough 
to break upon it, though the depth there 
must be at least six feet. Sometimes it is 
shallower ; and, if you are ambitious and 
— foolish, you can wade and swim out 
there, and meet the waves first-hand. It 
is not worth while to run the risk, though : 
the seas will usually form again long before 
they reach the shore ; and, if you are sen- 
sible, you can enjoy them fully as much 
here as if you had put several hundred 
yards between yourself and help in the 
always possible contingency of accident. 

No, it is not remarkably rough now ; 
but last week ! you should have been here 
then. There had been great tumults far 
out beyond that smoke you see floating 
above the horizon, where some hidden 



241 



Surf and Surf- Bathiiig 

steamer is ploughing her way through 
blue water ; and the great seas rolled and 
tumbled upon the bar and broke there, 
but they had no time to form themselves 
again. Plunging onward under their own 
impulse, and beaten out of shape by fiercely 
thronging successors, they rushed in toward 
the shore, a seething turmoil of foam, 
sweeping the sand from one side, and heap- 
ing it up on another, — all white above 
and gray below from bar to beach. Next 
week there may be scarce a ripple ; you 
would not know there was an outer bar ; 
and the wavelets, as they lap the sand, 
will seem so placid that you cannot con- 
ceive how they could ever have lost their 
temper. 

In spite of all its changes, however, the 
surf has sometimes local characteristics 
as fixed as anything can be with which 
the fickle ocean has to do. For instance, 
on the Atlantic coast the storms are gene- 
rally bred and nurtured in the east ; the 
milder weather is born of southern or west- 
ern winds, and therefore it is that those 
who have spent much time upon the New 
Jersey beaches have probably noticed that 
during very heavy weather the waves, as 
a rule, roll straight upon the shore ; while 
when the surf is lighter it is apt to run 

242 



Surf and Surf- Bathing 

diagonally, or, as they say, " sets " from 
the south. On the Long Island coast all 
this is reversed; there, when the storm- 
winds prevail, the "set" is strong from 
the east, and the foam and breakers race 
along the beach from Montauk toward 
the Metropolis ; while at other times the 
surf will usually run straight on. It is 
hardly necessary to say that a 
surf without "set" is far more 




Figure 2. 



agreeable, and 
somewhat safer. 
A bather is 
not forced to 
light constantly 
against the impulse that is drifting him 
down the beach and away from compan- 
ions, ropes, and bathing-grounds. 

The strength and height of the waves 
depend mainly upon influences at work 
far out upon the ocean ; but the beach, 
as shaped by its watery assailants, reacts 
upon them in turn. The finest surf will 

243 



Surf and Surf- Bathing 

be found under the following conditions : 
First, let there be a storm well out at sea, 
sending the big rollers straight onto the 
beach, and then a sharp wind off-shore for 
a few hours. The effect of this will be, 
in the first instance, to thin the waves; and 
he who is fortunate enough to make trial 
of them under such circumstances will find 
a high, clean-cut surf, each breaker of 
which combs over in even sequence, and 
yet without such weight or body of water 
as to seriously threaten his equilibrium. 
Should that same wind off-shore blow for 
a few hours longer, the tops of the waves 
will be cut off, and the ocean become too 
calm to be interesting. 

I speak of a " fine surf; " but were each 
man asked what he understands by it, or 
by the term "good bathing," his definition 
would probably be largely governed by his 
skill and ability to take care of himself. 
For instance, what would be highly satis- 
factory to a good surfman would be alto- 
gether too rough for those compelled by 
weakness, timidity, or inexperience to stand 
near the shore and look on ; while what 
might be agreeable to them would be 
tame for him. The opinion of such as 
say, " Wasn't it splendid to-day ! Why, 
I swam way out to the bar/' need not 

244 



Surf and Surf- Bathing 

be considered. They don't enjoy surf- 
bathing ; it is only the swimming that 
they care for, and they would doubtless 
be even better pleased at any point on 
Long Island Sound. But what I take to 
be, and what I mean by, "a good bath- 
ing-day," is one on which a man who 
understands himself can take the surf as 
it comes, either alone or " with convoy," 
and yet, when there is an ever-present ex- 
citement in the knowledge that a second's 
carelessness may result in an overthrow of 
both his person and his pride. 

Turning now from the water to the 
beach itself, we find its formation varies 
from day to day and from year to year, 
almost as much as do the waves that are 
forever smiting it. It may deepen grad- 
ually or abruptly ; and the shoaling of an 
abrupt beach is usually the result of some 
days' heavy sea " setting " from one direc- 
tion or the other, which cuts away the 
sand above low-water mark, and spreads 
it out over the bottom. But that charac- 
teristic which at the same time varies and 
affects us most is the position and depth 
of what is known as the " ditch;" that is, 
where, sometimes at a few feet, sometimes 
at several yards from the shore, will be 
found a sudden declivity caused by the 

245 



Su7-f and Surf- Bathing 

continual pounding of the surf along one 
line, and consequently lying farther out in 
heavy weather, and conversely. 

As a source of danger this same "ditch" 
is often very material. Often a man igno- 
rant of the surf, perhaps a poor swimmer, 
or no swimmer at all, starts to wade out 
waist- or breast-deep. To his eyes there 
is no sign of peril — one step more, and lo ! 
he is beyond his depth ; and that, too, just 
where the waves are pounding him down, 
and the conditions most potent to de- 
prive him of his much-needed presence of 
mind. Nor is this all. He may not, of 
his own free will, take that last step which 
involves him in all this difficulty, for it 
is at the edge of the " ditch " where the 
" undertow " is strongest ; nay, more, the 
very strength of the " undertow " depends 
largely upon the depth of the ditch. 

Doubtless we have all heard a great deal 
about this "undertow," as though it were 
some mysterious force working from the 
recesses of a treacherous ocean to draw un- 
wary bathers to their doom. As a matter 
of fact, its presence is obviously natural, and 
the explanation of it more than simple. 
As each wave rolls in and breaks upon the 
beach, the volume of water which it car- 
ries does not remain there and sink into 

246 



Surf and Surf- Bathing 

the sand: it flows back again; and, as the 
succeeding wave breaks over it, the reced- 
ing one forms an undercurrent flowing 
outward of strength proportionate to the 
body of water contained in each breaker, 
and, again, proportionate in a great meas- 
ure to the depth of the ditch. Where this 
latter is an appreciable depression, it can 
be readily seen that the water of receding 
waves will flow into it with similar effect 
to that of water going over a fall, and that 
a person standing near is very likely to be 
drawn over with it, and thus, if the ditch 
is deep enough, carried out of his depth. 
This is all there is to the much-talked-of 
" undertow," and the numerous accidents 
laid to its account. 

It may be well to speak here of another 
phenomenon not infrequently observed. I 
do not recall ever seeing the name by which 
it is known in print; and, as the word is 
ignored by Webster, I shall invent my own 
spelling, and write it " sea-poose/' This 
term is loosely used on different parts of 
the coast; but the true significance of it is 
briefly this : There will sometimes come, 
at every bathing-ground, days when the 
ocean seems to lose its head, and to act in 
a very capricious way. On such occasions 
it often happens that the beach is cut away 

247 



Surf and Surf- Bathing 



at some one point, presumably where the 
sand happens to be softer and less capable 
of resisting the action of the water. There 
will then be found a little bay indenting 




Figiire 3. 



the shore, perhaps ten feet, perhaps ten 
yards. The waves rolling into such a 
cove are deflected somewhat by its sides, 
and "set" together at its head, so that two 
wings of a breaker, so to speak, meet, and, 
running straight out from the point of 
junction, form a sort of double " under- 
tow," which will, if the conditions that 
cause it continue, cut out along its course 
a depression or trench of varying depth 
and length. It can be readily understood 

248 



Surf and Surf- Bathing 

that such a trench tends to strengthen the 
current that causes it ; and these two fac- 
tors, acting and reacting upon each other, 
occasion what might be called an artificial 
" undertow,' ' which is sometimes strong 
enough to carry an unwary bather some 
distance out, in a fashion that will cause 
him either to be glad he is, or to wish he 
were, within the rectangle of the life-lines. 
I h*:ve sometimes heard old surfmen 
speak of what they call a "false poose;" 
but I have never been able to find out just 
what was meant by the expression, much 
less its causes and character. I shall, there- 
fore, leave the question for those who de- 
light to delve into the mysteries of local 
nomenclature. 



And now, standing upon the dunes, our 
eyes have wandered over the expanse of 
ocean with a glance more critical and in- 
quiring as it drew near the shore. The 
salt savor of the breeze is at the same 
time a tonic and an anodyne ; we are 
drowsy, but the sea yet draws us to itself 
with an irresistible impulse. The waves 
are rolling straight in, and breaking high 
and clean. Shall we plunge into their cool 
depths ? Shall we combat their strength, 
249 



Surf ana Surf - Bathing 



or ride them as they come galloping from 
the blue to the green, and from the green 
to the white, until at last they fall spent 
upon the gray sand of the beach ? Surely ! 
Who is there can stand by and resist 
such temptation ! But wait ! Surf-bath- 
ing is not a solitary sport. See ! the beach 
is thronged with gay toilets and bright 
sunshades, and the water has already given 
place to many. Watch that couple as they 
run gracefully down to the shore. They 
dash confidently out ; now they have al- 
most reached the line where the waves are 
breaking ; he takes her hands, and they 
stand prepared to "jump " the breakers — 
and then ! and then a big, foamy crest 
curls over them, and falls with a roar ; and, 
as it rolls in, you think you see a foot 
reaching up pathetically out of its depth, 
and now a hand some yards away, until at 
last, from out the shallows of the spent 
wave two dazed and bedraggled shapes 
stagger to their feet, and look, first for 
themselves, and then for each other. A 
broad smile runs along the line of pretty 
toilets, and the gay sunshades nod their ap- 
preciation. There stand some men, just 
where the breakers comb ; and, as each 
wave succeeds its precursor, and rises into 
a crest, you may see the half-dozen brown- 

250 



Sii7-f and Surf -Bathing 



armed figures shooting over, like so many 
porpoises, and plunging head foremost un- 
der the advancing hill of water. Look ! 
there come some big ones — one, two, 
three of them ! The bathers see them, 
too, and press out a few yards into deeper 
water ; and then the diving commences. 
It is sharp work this time ; the big ocean- 
coursers are running close upon each other's 
heels, and the heads scarcely emerge after 
the first before the second is curling di- 
rectly above ; now they have passed, and 
each breathless bather looks around to see 
how the rest have fared — three, four, five 
— but where is the sixth ? A roar of 
laughter floats shoreward as a demoralized 
form is seen to gather itself up, almost 
upon the beach ; that last breaker 
• of the trio struck too quickly 

\ for him. He cannot tell you 

just how many somersaults 
he has turned since the ocean 
proceeded to take him in 
hand, but 
he is sure 
that they 
must have 
numbered 
somewhere 
among the 




Figure 4 



25- 



Surf and Surf- Bathing 

twenties. Yes, it is brisk sport, and we 
must "go in." 

But then it does not look comfortable 
to be thrown ; nor will it please our con- 
ceit to so minister to the good-natured 
mirth of that gay company. It is pleas- 
anter to be among the laughers ; and so 
we shall be. To that end a few hints will 
perhaps be found useful ; and even though 
what I shall say may, when said, seem to 
be obvious enough, yet it is amazing how 
few people will of themselves perceive the 
obvious, and utilize their perceptions. You, 
my scornful friend, who think you know it 
all, you will go to Southampton next sum- 
mer, and, — the spirit of prophecy being 
upon me, — you will be thrown, ignomin^ 
iously thrown, eight times inside of two 
weeks ; so remember that much that is 
" obvious " is yet fairly occult after all, or 
at least might as well be, as far as practice 
is concerned. And now to return to the 
ocean and to didactics. 

We shall assume, in the first place, that 
you are able to swim ; and further, that 
you are not minded to follow the inglo- 
rious, yet really dangerous, example of 
those who wait for a calm interval, and 
then, rushing through the line of breakers, 
spend their time swimming out beyond. 

252 



.i nrj and Surf- Bathing 




Well, then, take your 
place just where the seas 
comb. This point will vary somewhat 
with the height of the waves ; but you will 
stand, for the most part, in water about 
waist-deep (as shown in Fig. i). Should 
a particular breaker look to be heavier than 
the preceding, remember that it will strike 
farther out, and that you must push for- 
ward to meet it. Then, if you are where 
you should be, it will comb directly above 
your head. Wait until it reaches that point 
of its development (for if you act too soon 
or too late your chances of being thrown 
are greatly increased), and, with the white 
crest just curving over you, dive under the 
green wall of water that rises up in front. 
Dive just as you would from a low shore, 
only not quite so much downward, — say 
at an angle of twenty degrees off the hori- 



253 



Surf and Surf- Bathing 

zontal (Figs. 2 and 3), your object being 
to slip under the incoming volume of wa- 
ter, to get somewhat into the " undertow," 
and yet to run no risk of running afoul of 
the bottom. The heavier the wave, the 
deeper will be the water in which you 
stand, and the deeper you can and should 
dive. If your antagonist be very big and 
strong, you will find it advisable to strike 
out the instant you have plunged, very 
much on the theory that as a bicycle will 
stand when in motion, and fall the instant 
it stops, so a man can, by swimming under 
water, keep control of and balance himself 
much better against the peculiar vibratory 
motion which one experiences when un- 
der a big wave, and surrounded by conflict- 
ing currents. Swimming will also tend to 
bring you to the surface again under full 
control ; and, provided you have acted with 
judgment, you will find yourself, when the 
wave has passed, standing on about the line 
from which you plunged. 

A thing good to remember, but difficult 
to explain the cause of, is, that extraordi- 
narily heavy waves almost invariably travel 
by threes ; that is, very often, when you 
have been standing at one spot, and taking 
perhaps a dozen breakers, you will of a 
sudden see, rolling in from the bar, a hill of 

254 



Surf and Surf- Bathing 

water and foam much higher and heavier 
than those that have gone before. Then 
be sure that there are two more of similar 
magnitude close behind it, and push for- 
ward as fast as you can. If it seems very 
heavy, and you have time, you may try 
to get beyond the break, and ride them 
in comfort ; but if this is impossible, you 
must dive low, swim, come to the surface 
promptly, dash the water from your eyes, 
and be ready for numbers two and three ; 
and when all have passed, if you are still 
in good shape, you will find some long 
draughts of air 
very agreeable. 

Sometimes it 
will happen that 
you cannot get far 
enough out in 
time to meet 
these big seas 
at the proper 
point; and then 
it is that your 
reputation as a 
surf-man will 
be in danger, 
at least among 
those who 
judge by sue- 




255 



S?irf and Surf- Bathing- 

cess alone. There is only one thing to do : 
dive under the foam as it boils toward you 
— dive deep and swim hard. The wave 
and the " undertow " will be here com- 
mingled in 
a sort of 
whirlpool, 
and you 
will need 
all your 
strength 
and skill to 




Figure 7. 



^ keep "head on." 
Suffer yourself to 
be twisted but 
a few inches from your course, and — but 
doubtless you understand. 

There is a rather amusing way of play- 
ing with the surf on days when it is fairly 
high, but thin, and without much force. 
Instead of diving as the breaker com- 
mences to comb, throw yourself over back- 

256 



Surf and Surf- Bathing- 



ward, and allow your feet to be carried up 
into its crest. Provided you have judged 
its strength accurately, and given yourself 
just enough back somersault impetus, you 




Figure 8. 



will be turned 
completely over 
in the wave (Figs. 
4 and 5), and 
strike with it, 
and upon your 
feet; only, be careful in picking out your 
plaything, and don't select one that will 
pound you into the sand, or perhaps re- 
fuse to regulate the number of somersaults 
according to your wishes or intentions. 



257 



Surf and Surf- Bathing 

Now, it is more than possible that, be- 
ing a good swimmer, and having first made 
personal trial of both beach and surf, you 
may desire to offer your escort to — well, 
to your sister ; and right here let me note 
a few preliminary cautions : — 

Never attempt to take a woman into 
the surf where there is any reason for an 
experienced surfman to anticipate a sea 
which, unaccompanied, you would have 
any difficulty in meeting ; or 

When the water in the ditch is more 
than breast-deep ; or 

When the " undertow " or " set " is 
especially strong ; or 

When there is any irregularity of the 
beach which might cause a "sea-poose" 
to form. 

You may also find it wise to observe the 
following : — 

Never take a woman outside the life- 
lines, and never promise her, either ex- 
pressly or by implication, that you will 
not let her hair get wet. Above all, im- 
press it upon her that she must do exactly 
as you say, that a moment's hesitation due 
to timidity or lack of confidence, or, worse 
than all, anything like panic, or an attempt 
to break from you and escape by flight, is 
likely to precipitate a disaster which, un- 

258 



Surf and Surf- Bathh 




Figure 9. 



pleasant and humiliating when met alone, 
is trebly so in company. 

And now, having read your lecture on 
the duty of obedience, etc., lead on. Of 
course, if the water deepens gradually and 
the surf is very light, you may go beyond, 
the breakers ; but in that event no skill is 
called for, and no suggestions needed. 

There are several good ways of holding 
a woman in the surf, but the best and 
safest in every emergency is that shown 
in Fig. 6. You thus stand with your left 
and her right side toward the ocean; and 
as the wave rises before you, your com- 



259 



Surf and S?trf- Bathing 



panion should, at the word, spring from 
the sand, while at the same moment you 
swing her around with all your force, and 
throw her backward into the advancing 
breaker (Fig. 7). You will observe that 
your own feet are always firmly planted 
on the bottom, the left foot about twelve 
inches advanced, and your body and shoul- 
ders thrown forward, so as to obtain the 
best brace against the shock of the water. 
The question of preserving your equilib- 
rium is largely one of proper balancing, 
especially when, as is often the case, you 
are carried from your foothold, and borne 
some yards toward the shore. Your com- 
panion's weight and impetus, as well as the 
position in which she strikes the wave, — 
that is, directly in front of you, — all tend 
to make your anchorage more secure, or, 
in case of losing it, your balance the easier 
to maintain. The body of the wave will, 
of course, pass completely over you (as 
shown in Fig. 8). The instant it has so 
passed, and your head emerges, clear your 
eyes, regain your position (you will practi- 
cally drop into it again), and if carried 
shoreward, press out to the proper point, so 
as to be ready for the next. 

Should an exceptionally heavy sea roll 
in, endeavor to push forward to meet it as 

260 



Surf and Surf- Bathing- 



if you were alone, being very careful, how- 
ever, not to get out of depth. Flight is 
almost always disastrous. If the sea strikes 
before you can reach it, there is nothing 
to do but bend your head and shoulders 
well forward, brace yourself as firmly as 
possible, and thus, presenting the least sur- 
face for the water to take hold of, and 
getting the full benefit of the " under- 
tow," swing your companion (who has 
also bent low and thrown herself forward) 
horizontally under the broken wave (Fig. 
9). If she has had much experience, it 
will be still better for you to dive together, 
side by side. 

Before dropping this branch of the sub- 
ject, I will call attention briefly to another 
way of carrying a woman through the surf. 
Let her stand directly in front of and fa- 
cing you (as shown in Fig. 10). Standing 
thus, she springs, and is pushed backward 
through the wave somewhat as in the 
former instance (Fig. 11). The disadvan- 
tages of this method are : First, that you 
lose in impetus by pushing rather than 
swinging your companion ; second, that 
she cannot herself see what is coming ; 
third, that neither is in as convenient a 
position to hurry forward to meet an ex- 
ceptionally heavy wave ; and fourth, that 

261 



Surf and Surf '- Bathing 




Figtire 10. 

you have not as good a hold in case a sea 
breaks before it reaches you, or any other 
emergency arises. 

In all that has been said, bear in mind 
that the cardinal secret of surf-bathing, in 
all contingencies, is proper balancing, and 
nothing but experience seconding knowl- 
edge can teach you to measure forces and 
judge correctly to that end. 



262 



Stir/ and Surf- Bathing 



So far the sea has been a good-natured, 
though sometimes a rough, playfellow — 
never really irritable or vindictive ; but 
unfortunately this disposition cannot be 
counted upon. That there are dangers 
attendant upon ocean-bathing, he who has 
been present when human life was being 
fought for can abundantly testify. To be 
sure, most of the " accidents " are results 
of carelessness or ignorance ; but then the 
same may be said of accidents everywhere, 
and a short summary of the dangers pecul- 
iar to the surf may be of use. Some of 
these have been already indicated, as, for 




Surf and Surf- Bathing 

instance, dangers arising from the " under- 
tow.'' This by itself is not likely to 
trouble any one except a very poor swim- 
mer, and then only when the ditch is deep ; 
for the reason that the power of the " un- 
dertow " is confined practically to within 
the line of breakers, and cannot carry a 
bather any distance. In the case of a 
" sea-poose," however, it is different. I 
have seen a current of this character run- 
ning out for many yards beyond a man's 
depth, and against which a strong swimmer 
would find it almost impossible to make 
headway. Fortunately such instances are 
rare ; but he who may be thus entangled 
must remember, the moment he realizes 
his predicament, that by attempting to 
fight the current and swim directly toward 
the beach, he, as a general thing, only 
wastes his strength. He must strike out 
for a few yards along shore ; and a slight 
effort so directed will soon take him out 
of the dangerous influence. 

Again, the " undertow " may help to 
a disaster in the following way : As a rule, 
there is no real danger in being thrown by 
a breaker ; but there have been occasions 
when an inexperienced or exhausted bather 
has been struck in such a way, or thrown 
with such force, as to be more or less in- 

264 



Surf and Surf- Bathing 

jured or dazed ; and then, before he could 
regain control of himself, and while pros- 
trate in the water, he has been drawn back 
by the " undertow," rolled under and 
pounded down by each succeeding breaker, 
and finally even drowned. 

The great majority, however, of drown- 
ing accidents on the seaboard — that is, 
of those which can be even indirectly at- 
tributed to the surf — take place under 
the following circumstances : Some strong 
swimmer comes to the beach, entirely ig- 
norant of the strength and ways of the 
ocean ; he sneers at the warnings of surf- 
men, and, choosing a calm interval, dashes 
through the line of breakers, and amuses 
himself by swimming out ; ropes and log- 
buoys are entirely beneath his notice. Fi- 
nally he begins to feel tired ; the chop of 
the seas splashes up into his nose and eyes ; 
it is not so easy as swimming in still water, 
and he concludes to come in. Now, the 
chances are that he will do this without 
any serious difficulty, even though he does 
not quite understand how to swim high, 
with long strokes when on the inner slope 
and summit of each wave, until it fairly 
shoots him toward the shore ; and then 
to rest and hold his own while on the 
outer slope and in the trough. There is 

265 



Surf and Surf- Bathing 

always, however, just a possibility, and the 
stronger the surf the more possible is it, 
that the inexperienced swimmer can not 
come through the line of breakers when 
and where he wants to : he must wait 
their pleasure ; and if he has measured his 
strength closely, and the delay be long, 
it is easy to see how that, in trying to 
pass, he may be thrown down into the 
" undertow," and lack sufficient strength 
to extricate himself. 

Next to caution and life-lines, surf dan- 
gers are best provided against by a long 
rope, with a slip-noose at the end, either 
wound on a portable reel or coiled and 
placed at the lowest point of the beach. 
Then a rescuer, throwing the noose around 
his waist, can make his way to a drowning 
man, and both can be drawn in by those 
on shore. In default of some such contri- 
vance, the next best thing is for all the 
able-bodied to form a chain of hands ; for, 
let me say, there is nothing more difficult, 
even for a strong swimmer and expert 
surfman, than bringing a drowning per- 
son in through, or out of, a line of heavy 
breakers. 

I recall an incident which happened 
some years since at Bridgehampton, Long 
Island, and which illustrates the difficulty 

266 



Surf and Surf- Bathing 



of which I speak. A young clergyman 
had arrived only the day before : he was 
unable to swim a stroke ; and his first ex- 
ploit was to wade out into the ocean, en- 
tirely ignorant of the fact that the ditch 
was that day both abrupt and deep, — or 
perhaps even that there was such a thing 
as a ditch, — and that a single step would 
take him from a depth of four feet and 
safety, into one of six and considerable 
danger. Whether he took the step, or the 
"undertow" took it for him, is not mate- 
rial ; but the bathing-master and one other 
saw the trouble, dashed in, and, reaching 
the drowning man, were able to keep his 
head above water. But, what with this and 
fighting the waves, they could not seem to 
make an inch shoreward. There were not 
many on the beach at the time, and only 
four or five men who could be of any use. 
A chain of hands was promptly formed, 
but it was not long enough to bring the 
inside man into water less than waist-deep ; 
and the "undertow," pouring into the big 
ditch, sucked with all its might. So they 
swung backward and forward, now gain- 
ing, now losing ground. And meanwhile, 
the bathing-master and those nearest him, 
being out of depth, were fast becoming 
exhausted. All, so far, had instinctively 

267 



Surf and Surf- Bathing 

tried to fight the waves, but it was evident 
that a change of tactics was necessary; and 
fortunately at that moment a great ridge 
of water was seen sweeping in. Thought 
came quickly then, and the word, " Let it 
throw us ! " was passed down the line ; then 
it struck, and for a moment there was a 
confused tangle of legs and arms and heads 
and bodies swirled around, over, under, 
and against each other. Those closer in- 
shore were hurled upon the beach ; but 
the chain held together long enough to 
drag the others into a place of safety. 
Though there were no casualties of any 
consequence, I am very certain that each 
link of that chain will not soon forget the 
experience, and will appreciate the truth 
of my last statement. 

And now let me try to temper all this, 
by saying that the dangers of surf-bathing 
are, in reality, much less than those that 
beset still-water swimming, where one is 
usually out of his depth, and with very 
little chance of escape in case of cramp or 
exhaustion. Only make friends with the 
ocean, learn its ways, study its moods a 
little, and humor it, while you keep care- 
ful watch against any sudden ebullition of 
passion. Those who stand aloof can never 
realize the pleasure and excitement of the 

268 



Surf and Surf- Bathing 

sport they forego ; nor shall they know the 
profound satisfaction born of successfully 
combating a trio of big rollers, which have 
tossed companions and rivals in confusion 
on the beach. 



269 



COUNTRY CLUBS 



AND 



HUNT CLUBS IN AMERICA 

/ 

By Edward S. Martin 




Ke?inels and Stables of the Rockaivay Hunt Chib. 



LONG time ago men discov- 
ered that by clubbing together 
they could maintain a town 
house on a scale of comfort 
and even luxury which would 
be very much beyond the in- 
dividual means of most of them. It was 
convenient to have such houses, and for 
more than a century they have been a fa- 

273 




Country Clubs and Hunt Clubs in A merica 

miliar feature of the life of great cities. 
The application of the same principle to 
the maintenance of a country estate is a 
matter of comparative novelty, and largely 
of American development. 

The English country house abounding 
all over Great Britain has apparently made 
the country club a much less necessary ap- 
purtenance to English cities than to ours. 
The well-to-do and fashionable Briton hies 
him to town in the spring, and stays there 
until the summer is well advanced. While 
he stays in London he is abundantly occu- 
pied and amused ; and when he leaves, it is 
to go to his country house or to a watering- 
place, or to travel by land or sea, or to shoot, 
or pay a round of visits and get ready for 
the hunting season. All England is a sort 
of country club for London, and the lesser 
British towns are ministered to in like man- 
ner by the rural districts about them. Sport 
has long been a fixed habit of the British 
people; and for generations provision has 
been made for it in foot-ball and cricket 
grounds, in village commons, in shooting- 
preserves, and in that profusion of hunt 
clubs which makes it difficult in the hunt- 
ing-season to ride fifty miles in any direc- 
tion without coming within hearing dis- 
tance of a huntsman's horn. 

274 



Coimtry Clubs and Hunt Clubs in America 



r jr~ ... . i 



But for the resident of an American city 
the conditions are different. As long as 
his town was small and his income limited, 
the urban American got on well enough. 
He was too busy adding to his income to 
have much time for recreation ; he had 
crude ideas about playing ; and when he 
wished to rest his eyes with a sight of the 
green fields, he could get into his wagon, 
and drive in a few minutes beyond the 
limits of paved streets into the country. 
As his city grew, his income increased, 
the nervous strain of living increased, the 
hours of his work shortened, and the strenu- 
ousness of his application was 
aggravated. He began to need 
more recreation, more country 

air, more 
country 
scenes. If 
the town 
he lived 
in was 
very big, 
he some- 
times got 
himself a 
house in 
its sub- 

The Dining-Room of the Rockaway Club. UTDS J allQ 

275 



m 



I 




Country Clubs and Hunt Clubs in America 

whether as urban or suburban resident, he 
indulged himself more and more in horses. 
Then gradually the country clubs began to 
appear. Horse was usually at the bottom 
of them at the beginning ; though bicycle 
has grown to be horse's rival nowadays, 
and, allied with golf, disputes his prece- 
dence. City people who keep horses for 
pleasure, or bicycles, want a place to ride 
and drive to. It must not be too far off, 
and the roads leading to it must be fit to 
ride over. Dwellers in suburbs want the 
same thing ; and they want, further, more 
than city folks, a social centre, where balls 
can be had and dinners eaten, and where 
in the late hours of the afternoon, when 
the men have got back from town, they 
can get sight of one another, play tennis, 
polo, golf, or base-ball, and swap conver- 
sation, horse-points, and invitations to din- 
ner. One purpose, further, the country club 
serves, — to make a summer home for bach- 
elors whose business keeps them near town 
all summer, and for laborious benedicts 
whose families go farther away than they 
can follow them. It would seem, then, 
that there are two species of country club, 
— the suburban club, which grows out of 
the needs of the dwellers in a suburb, and 
that which is devised for the convenience 

276 



Country Clubs and Hunt Clubs in A merica 



of members who live in town. But, prac- 
tically, the distinction is not very definite. 
There must be a city before there can be 
suburbs. Suburban country places are apt 
to cluster around a good country club, even 
if they were not there in the beginning ; 
and a club designed to meet the wants of 
suburbanites is sure to gain a membership 




After a day's run at Cedarhurst — the Rockaivay Club, 
277 



Country Clubs and Hunt Clubs in A merica 

from city people, who want to share its 
privilege and enjoy its sports. 

Originally, as has been said, the corner- 
stone of the country club was Horse. 
When the average American began to find 
himself master of more money than he 
required for the simpler comforts of life, 
one of the first luxuries to which he treated 
himself was a horse. If he could afford 
more horses than sufficed for mere conve- 
nience, he kept others for pleasure. Time 
was when the American sole idea of a 
pleasure horse was a trotting-horse, and 
every American country town has been 
used these many decades to provide itself 
with an agricultural trotting-race track as 
one of its earliest necessities ; but of later 
years, while the trotting-horse has contin- 
ued to be a favorite, the taste for other 
varieties of equine merit has developed. 
Horses that are good to look at, and to 
haul carriages handsomely, and to carry 
riders, have been felt to be worth cultivat- 
ing as well as horses that are good to go 
fast. The horse that the country clubs 
are interested in is the horse that hauls a 
dog-cart, a surrey, a tea-cart, a drag, or a 
plain family wagon ; the horse that con- 
tributes to the perfection of a tandem or 
a four-in-hand; the horse that can jump a 

278 



Country Clubs and Hunt Clubs in America 



fence, and run in a steeplechase ; and the 
small but active quadruped that carries the 
polo-player. In spite of the immense 
spread of the bicycle, it is still true that 
wherever you find a country club, you find 
a centre of interest in all these equine de- 
velopments. In most country clubs polo 
becomes sooner or later a prominent sport. 
It furnishes a very active exercise for the 
men who play it, and a lively spectacle 
to the women and children and more pru- 
dent men who prefer to look on. It also 
serves as a summer horse-sport for those 
organizations which are half country, half 
hunt clubs, whereby men can get their 
summer exercise, and put themselves in 
proper condition for the hunting when it 
comes. Sometimes country clubs develop 
out of polo, as the Buffalo Country Club, 
or the Dedham Polo Club, which latter, 
though not strictly a country club as yet, 
serves many of the purposes of one to its 
members ; sometimes polo is merely a 
development, as in the Country Club of 
Brookline or of Westchester ; and often- 
times polo and country club both develop 
out of hunt clubs, as is the case with the 
Myopia Club of Hamilton, and the Mea- 
dowbrook and Rockaway Clubs on Long 
Island. 



279 



Country Clubs and Hunt Clubs in America 



The Brook- 
line Coun- 
try Club is 
about five 
miles from 
the b u s i- 
ness centre 
of Boston. 
Good roads 
tions 




The Radnor Kennels. 



lead to it from all direc- 
and make it accessible by driving 
from Boston and most of the suburban 
cities and villages that environ that fortu- 
nate town. The grounds of the club in- 
clude acreage enough for a half-mile track, 
a course for steeplechasing, a polo-field, 
golf-links, and as many tennis-courts as 
are called for, besides woodland, shaded 
avenues, and long stretches of lawn. The 




A Corjier oj ike Diuing-Hall. 
280 



Country Clubs and Hunt Clubs in America 



club-house, facing the lawns and polo- 
field, stands back several hundred yards 
from the street, from which a shaded 
avenue leads to it. It is the house that 
was bought with the estate, and enlarged 
to meet the requirements of the club. 

Without any vio- 
lent pretensions 
'Uvi/^%^^^^^ to architectural 




The Radnor Hunt Club of Philadelphia, quartered near Bryn Mawr. 



beauty, it is handsome enough, and has 
reception-rooms, ball-rooms, dining-rooms, 
billiard-rooms, bath-rooms, bedrooms, and 
piazza-room enough for the club's neces- 
sities. Its stables are proportionately ample 
and convenient. Its activities continue all 
the year round ; but as a large proportion 
of its members get them to the seashore 

281 



Country Clubs and Hzint Chibs hi America 

or elsewhere in summer, its liveliest times 
are in the spring and fall. Steeplechasing, 
flat-racing, pony-racing, coursing, and gym- 
kana games are its habitual exercises ; and 
occasionally it holds a sort of blizzard of 
sport, when a horse-show, a dog-show, or 
some other sporting spectacle, is provided 
every day for a week. The activity of its 
polo-players is continuous all through the 
season ; and golf, which is a godsend to 
country clubs, has already taken an im- 
portant place in its activities. It will be 
seen that this club abounds in what the 
theatrical managers call " attractions/' 
When anything of special moment offers, 
its grounds are gay with fair women, brave 
horses, bicycles, grooms, carriages, and 
gentlemen ; and when nothing in particu- 
lar is going on, it is still a pleasant place 
to drive to and get dinner. 

What the Brookline Country Club is, 
most of the other country clubs are, or 
hope to be, always with such differences 
as environment contributes. Such clubs as 
the Essex County, the Catonville, or the 
Westchester, placed in a centre of summer 
homes, are liveliest in summer ; while the 
hunt clubs which have country-club fea- 
tures are most active in the fall. 

Most of the hunt clubs are the outcome 
282 



Country Clubs and Hunt Clubs in America 

of the same development of wealth, leisure, 
and sporting proclivities to which the rise 
of the country clubs is due. 

Hunting in England seems to have 
grown originally out of the necessities of 
country life. For centuries the most im- 
portant form of British wealth was land. 
All important Englishmen had landed es- 
tates ; most of them got their chief rev- 
enues from them, and most of them lived 
a good part of the year in one or another 
of their country places. They had to 
amuse themselves as they could. The 
habit of the chase came down to them 
from remote times ; and when they had 
no wild creature left that was chasable but 
the fox, they cherished the fox, and duly 
and diligently pursued him. In some 
parts of the United States it has happened 
that, ever since the country was first settled, 
foxes have been chased by country gentle- 
men, who needed some active sport to 
beguile their seasons of leisure. Thus it 
was in Virginia, so long before the Revo- 
lution that, when Lord Fairfax and George 
Washington kept hounds and hunted them, 
fox-chasing was an old story to the horse- 
men of those parts. But our modern 
American revival of fox-hunting and cross- 
country riding springs not so much from 

283 



Country Clubs and Hunt Clubs in A. 



the need of beguiling the monotony of the 
lives of landed proprietors and country 
gentlemen, as from the necessities and as- 
pirations of city men. Fox-hunting, or 
even drag-hunting, is an expensive amuse- 
ment ; and though in country districts 
where it has been started the farmers 
oftentimes share its excitements and help 
it on, the revenues of agriculture do not 
often suffice for its support. In some few 
exceptional cases the sport has been a true 
local development of the country hunted ; 
but much more often is it a suburban en- 
terprise, originated and supported by city 
men who want to hunt, and whose busi- 
ness, if not their homes, is in town. Out 
of twenty-five American and Canadian 
hunt clubs, at least twenty have this sub- 
urban characteristic. It is partly due to 
local conditions, and especially to the fact 
that this is a country of small farmers, 
who own their farms, instead of landed 
proprietors and tenant farmers. But it is 
also a result of that world-wide, contem- 
poraneous tendency which is making all 
the great cities bigger, and many of the 
lesser towns great; so that even in Great 
Britain the two hundred, more or less, 
hunts which flourish in spite of hard times, 
doubtless draw a very much more impor- 

284 



Coimtry Clubs and Hunt Clubs in A mericti. 




Start of the Meadowbrook Club at Southampton. 

tant proportion of their support from city 
men than they did twenty-five or even ten 
years ago. 

The city man's desire to hunt is based 
neither on affectation nor on mimicry. 
Americans do not hunt foxes or ride across 
country because it is done in England. The 
strain of English blood may show itself, 
perhaps, in American horsemanship ; but 
Americans ride across country because that 
is a far livelier and more interesting form 
of riding than riding on the road, even 
when it is a country road, — much more 
so when it is a park road or a paved street. 
And when Americans hunt foxes, they do 
it for the same reason that the English do, 

285 



Country Clubs and Hunt Clubs hi America 

because following the trail of a fleet and 
wily animal is better sport than follow- 
ing a cross-country trail artificially laid, and 
because the fox is the only wild creature 
fit for the chase that will live and flourish 
in proximity to man. That the city man, 
be he Briton or American, should wish to 
hunt is a reasonable desire. The circum- 
stances of his daily life are such as draw 
on his vitality and abate his vigor. When 
once he has put himself in the way of 
making an adequate living, his physical life 
is apt to be easy. He gets no taste of 
cold or hunger and hard physical labor. 
He is too apt to be overfed and overheated, 
to drink more than is good for him, to 
work too hard with his head and too little 
with his body, to be luxuriously lodged, 
and generally to be made too insidiously 
comfortable. He has to fear the debili- 
tating influences of such a life, both on his 
physique and on his character. His sim- 
plest remedy is some sort of out-of-door ex- 
ercise which involves some self-denial, some 
exertion, and a reasonable amount of grit. 
Partly for his liver's sake, partly for his 
amusement, he gets astride the horse. Then, 
if he has in him the quality known as sport- 
ing-blood, mere horseback exercise pres- 
ently palls on him. It is too monotonous. 

286 



Country Clubs and Hwd Clubs in America 

He wants something that will test his 
horse's capacity and, at the same time, his 
own nerve. Sometimes he finds it in polo ; 
but unless he is young and ardently ath- 
letic, he is apt to find it more to his taste 
in hunting. 

So it is to this desire of men who en- 
joy many luxuries to add to them one more, 
that will counteract some of the others, 
that the recent development of American 
hunting is largely due. If any hunt is 
to prosper, it must include among its back- 
ers a certain number of men who are pre- 
pared to take it seriously. When the 
hounds go out some one must go with 
them, — must go rain or shine, whether the 
spirit moves or not, whether the flesh is 
willing or otherwise. To keep up a hunt 
is a laborious business; and there must be 
in every hunt some members who are 
willing to take it laboriously when that 
is necessary, and hold their personal con- 
venience secondary to the demands of sport. 
Unless the master of the hounds evinces a 
devotion of this nature, and unless he has 
one or two colleagues on whom he can 
rely, the hunt is apt not to prosper. These 
mainstays of a hunt must be able to com- 
mand a considerable degree of leisure. If 
they are forthcoming, and are willing to 

287 



Country Clubs and Hunt Clubs in America 



spend their strength and money in main- 
taining the hunt, they will usually win to 
their support a following of less-deter- 
mined sportsmen, with less time to spare, 
who will hunt when they can, pay dues 
when that is necessary, and lend their 
countenance and a limited amount of per- 
sonal support to the enterprise. 

New York, which, awaiting the further 
development of Chicago, is more than any 
other American city the centre of Ameri- 
can enterprises, is, in at least one particu- 
lar, the most important centre of American 
hunting. There are more men in New 
York than in any other one town who 
want to hunt, who can afford to hunt, and 
who are willing to take a considerable 
amount of trouble to do it ; and though 
other cities had hunts long before New 
York did, no other American city has so 
many as six subsidiary hunt clubs at her 
doors. The most noted and important of 
these six New York hunts is the Mea- 
dowbrook. Its pedigree is too much in- 
volved for the present writer to trace it 
with much hope of historical accuracy ; 
but it seems to derive, with more or less in- 
direction, from the Queens County Drag 
Hounds, organized in September, 1877, by 
Messrs, Robert Center, W. C. Peat, A. 

288 



Country Clubs and Hunt Clubs in America 




Ji 'aiting for the Word. 
{Meet of the Meadowbrook Hunt at Southampton, L.I ., in the Fall of i 



Belmont Purdy, and F. Gray Griswold, at 
Meadowbrook, Long Island. These gen- 
tlemen or their assigns hunted the Mea- 
dowbrook country for three years. Then 
their pack was removed to Westchester 
County, and stayed two years. Then it 
went back to Far Rockaway, Long Island. 
Meanwhile, Hempstead was occupied by 
a new subscription pack, which held its 
first meet in September, 1880, and took 
the name of the Meadowbrook Hunt. 
The old Queens County pack, after mov- 
ing back to Far Rockaway, was joined by, 

389 



Country Clubs and Hunt Clubs in America 

or merged into, the Rockaway Hunt Club, 
and still exists under the latter name, with 
kennels and a club-house at Cedarhurst. 
One of its founders, Mr. Griswold, was 
lately master of the Meadowbrook hounds. 
One of his predecessors in that office was 
Mr. Thomas Hitchcock, Jr., who hunts a 
pack of his own in the winter, at Aiken, 
S.C. The present master is Mr. Ralph 
M. Ellis. The Meadowbrook Club-house, 
near Westbury, is a pleasant but unpreten- 
tious house, which answers for a sort of 
country club for the neighboring district. 
It has a ball-room and ladies' annex, plenty 
of bedrooms, where some of the members 
live in summer, ample stables and kennels, 
and a golf-links. The club has about sev- 
enty members, who pay annual dues of 
$100. Its pack of some thirty-six couple 
of English hounds is efficient, and well 
kept up. It hunts in the spring from 
March until well into May, and in the 
fall from Oct. i until the ground freezes. 
Occasionally it hunts wild foxes; but it 
finds so many obstacles to that form of 
sport that the drag is its main reliance, as 
it is of all the other clubs near New York. 
Inasmuch as drag-hunting is generally con- 
ceded to be an inferior sport to fox-hunt- 
ing, it is worth while to consider why all 

290 



Country Clubs and Hunt Clubs in A merica 



the hunt clubs near New York prefer it. 
The reasons for the Meadowbrook/s pref- 
erence are partly local. The woods in the 
twenty square miles of country the club 
hunts over are large, and without roads, and 
the foxes in them can seldom be persuaded 
to break covert and run over the open 
country, as well-regulated foxes should. 
Another important reason, which applies 
to the majority of the suburban hunt clubs, 




Lunch on Race-day at the "Kennels," the Headquarters of the 
Elkridge, Md., Hunt Club. 



291 



Country Clubs ami Hunt Clubs in A 7>ie?-ica 



is, that at least one-half of the Meadow- 
brook's members are men of business, who 
go daily to New York to their work. 
They get home by an afternoon train, and, 
by dint of hurrying, gain two or three 
hours from the working-day, which they 
can spend on a horse's back. Accordingly, 
when they get to the meet, at three 
o'clock or thereabouts, there is not time 
for an indefinite search after a fox, even if 
the country were favorable to such a quest. 
The Meadowbrook men want a sure run 
whenever they go out. They want it to 
begin promptly, and to end with certainty 
in time for dinner. Obviously, therefore, 
drag-hunting fits their necessities better 
than fox-hunting. They take the best 
sport they can get, and make the most of 
it. What they make of drag-hunting is 
matter of notoriety on both sides of the 
salt seas. They ride exceedingly good 
horses ; their hounds are swift, and their 
pace is fast. The great Hempstead plain, 
which lies near them, is unfenced, and free 
from obstacles, an admirable place to gal- 
lop or drive over at most seasons of the 
year. But when they leave that, and strike 
the neighboring farming-lands, the fences 
are frequent and strong, of the post and rail 
variety, and from four to five feet high, 

292 



Country Clubs and Hunt Clubs in A merica 




The Start from the Kennels. The Elkridge, Md., Club 



Country Clubs and Hunt Clubs in America 



with occasional taller ones. Drag-hunting 
over obstacles of this sort is a very wakeful 
sport, and only the boldest huntermen on 
the best nags can hope to find happiness 
in it. But the Meadowbrook men like it. 
From twenty to forty riders follow their 
hounds every hunting-day ; and the sport 
grows more popular, and the club larger, 
from year to year. Steeplechases are a 
familiar dissipation of the Meadowbrook 
men, and occasionally they have them of 
the point-to-point variety. Like all the 
hunt clubs, and the suburban clubs espe- 
cially, they make the most of holidays. 

Cedarhurst, the seat of the Rockaway 
Club, is only twelve miles, or thereabouts, 
from Westbury. Since it started in Far 
Rockaway in 1878, the Rockaway Club 
has suffered in an increasing degree from 
the intrusions of settlers. People will buy 
lots and build suburban houses in its coun- 
try ; and as hunting cannot be successfully 
carried on in a country that is all lawn and 
kitchen-gardens, the Rockaway men feel 
that the days of their sport are numbered. 
But while any country is left them to ride 
over, they will ride. They keep about fif- 
teen couple of hounds at their kennels near 
the club-house at Cedarhurst, and go out 
twice a week from September to January, 
^295 



Country Clubs and Hunt Clubs in America 

and in March and April. The obstacles 
they have to get over are mainly fences, 
from three feet six inches to five feet high. 
Walls are scarce on Long Island, as also are 
hedges and ditches. Like the Meadow- 
brook Club, the Rockaway combines the 
features of a country club with its hunting. 
It has an attractive club-house, with golf 
and tennis; and, like the Meadowbrook 
again, it has a strong polo team, which 
fights matches with the teams of the 
Meadowbrook, Myopia, Brookline, Ded- 
ham, Westchester, and other strong clubs. 
The essentials to fox-hunting are men, 
horses, foxes, and a country fit to hunt 
over. New York can find the men and 
the horses, but it is not blest in its hunting 
country. Philadelphia is better off. The 
oldest Quaker cannot remember a time 
when there was not fox-hunting within 
reach of Philadelphia. Farmers there- 
abouts kept hounds, and hunted them, 
before the Revolution; and one finds allu- 
sions in contemporary literature to the zeal 
with which British officers hunted Penn- 
sylvania foxes in pre-Revolutionary times 
from the Rose Tree Inn. The senior 
Philadelphia hunt of our day is the Rose 
Tree, at Media. It began about 1856, 
was reorganized in 1872, and got a charter 

296 



Country Clubs and Hunt Clubs in A merica 




The Pack of the London, Qnt., Club in front of the Clubhouse. 

in 1 88 1. It has about fifteen couple of 
American hounds from Delaware and Ches- 
ter Counties, Penn., crossed with hounds 
from Maryland and Virginia. Its season 
is from December to April ; its hounds 
meet three times a week, at seven a.m. 
two days, and at nine a.m. on Saturdays. 
Philadelphians, traditionally, have more 
leisure than the men of New York, and 
seem to be able to spare mornings, and 
indeed whole days, for hunting. Business 
men and young farmers follow the Rose 
Tree hounds, and the fields of riders range 
from five to twenty-five. The club-house 
is about a mile from Media. The club 
property includes the old stone Rose Tree 

297 



Country Clubs and Hunt Clubs in America 



Tavern, a pretty modern club-house near 
it, and some eighty acres of land, on which 
is laid out the club's half-mile track, and 
part of its steeplechase course. Of the 
Rose Tree hunting, a member of the club 
writes : " For the old fox-hunter one of 
the most interesting features of the hunt 
is the working of the hounds on a cold 
trail early in the morning to find a fox. 
When the scent is first struck, none but 
the old experienced hounds can make it 
out ; but when one of them cries, the 
pack will cluster around, and as they work 
it slowly toward the cover, the scent will 
grow stronger and stronger, until the cover 
is reached, when the burst of full cry from 
the pack gives fair warning that the fox 
has broken cover. Then all is excitement, 
and hounds and riders are away on the run. 
This cold drag frequently takes one or two 
hours to work out." 

This has about it the flavor of real fox- 
hunting, a very different sport from the 
drag-hunting of less favored regions. One 
can learn with the Rose Tree hounds the 
tricks of the fox, and watch the contest 
between his strategy and the sagacity of 
the hound. The country about Media is 
rough ; and the foxes usually get away, but 
not until they have given the hounds and 

298 



Country Clubs and Hunt Clubs in America 

huntermen good runs. One learns with 
regret that the prosperity of this excellent 
hunt is hardly what it should be. It has 
a vigorous and enterprising young rival in 
the Radnor Hunt, with a club-house and 
kennels near Bryn Mawr, which seems to 
have superior attractions for the younger 
Philadelphians. 

About Baltimore, fox-hunting is as old 
a story as in Philadelphia ; and the history 
of it is not to be told in a paragraph. Hunt 
clubs have flourished and died there, and 
had their successors these many years. The 
active clubs at present are the Elkridge 




Headquarters of the Green Spring Valley Hunt Club — the Old Stone 
Tavern on the Reisterstown Turnpike, Baltimore County, Md. 

299 



Cou7itry Clubs and Hunt Clubs in America 

and the Green Spring Valley. The older 
and larger club, the Elkridge, has a club- 
house and kennels about five miles on the 
Roland Park side of Baltimore. Its house 
is large, and has a ball-room attached ; and 
it serves many of the purposes of a coun- 
try club. The club has an excellent pack, 
a large membership, and plenty of good 
hunting country within reach. Being 
strong on its social side, it does not dis- 
dain drag-hunting, particularly in the ear- 
lier part of the season ; but foxes are its 
main reliance for sport, and the master, 
Mr. Samuel George, goes as far as is neces- 
sary to find them. Maryland hospitality 
makes it possible for the Elkridge meets 
to be held comfortably twenty-five miles 
from home, so that the country that is 
open to the club is practically unlimited. 
The younger organization, the Green 
Spring Valley, includes many members of 
the Elkridge. It started in 1892, hunts 
the wild fox only, and usually finds him. 
It has at present a pack of about a dozen 
couple of American hounds. Its members 
are young business men of Baltimore, with 
a supplementary sprinkling of farmers. It 
meets twice a week, at hours least incon- 
venient for working men, and its fields 
average about twenty. Its club-house is 

300 



Country Clubs and Hunt Clubs in Atnerica 

an old stone tavern about seven miles 
out of Baltimore. The club has very 
much of the sporting spirit, is inexpen- 
sive, and of simple habits, and under the 
mastership of Mr. Redmond Stewart gives 
good promise of prosperity. 

In Virginia, Maryland, the Carolinas, 
and Georgia, there has always been more 
or less unorganized fox-hunting by farmers 
and others in the winter months ; so that 
the roll of the American hunt clubs with 
recognized titles and regular meets is by 
no means a complete index of the fox- 
hunting done in the United States. In 
Kentucky, too, fox-hunting is a sport as 
familiar as one would expect it to be in a 
State first settled by sportsmen, and always 
famous for its horses. But fox-hunting 
there seems to be an occasional recreation, 
the feature of a holiday, or taken up when 
the spirit prompts. There are good hounds 
in Kentucky, some of them of high degree 
and long descent. It seems not to be diffi- 
cult to get together a pack, and horses are 
always abundant and fit in the blue-grass 
region. One reads of notable fox-hunting 
by large parties assembled for the purpose 
as early as August, and of ten-mile runs, 
over fence and wall, through underbrush 
and whatever intervenes, with large fields, 

301 



Country Clubs and Hunt Clubs in America 



and many mounted ladies in the following. 
But of organized clubs keeping hounds and 
hunting on stated days, there is no report. 
Among the best-known Virginia packs is 
the Deep Run hounds of Richmond, which 
go out twice a week in the season. At 
Warrenton, in northern Virginia, in a 
horse-raising district, the Warrenton Hunt 
Club hunts twice a week, under the mas- 
tership of Mr. James K. Maddux. There 
is a sprinkling of English settlers near 
Warrenton ; and the hunt is popular with 
them as well as with the other farmers, 
who train their horses in its runs. Sad to 
say, the country about Warrenton is un- 
suited to the pursuit of foxes, and it is only 
occasionally that they are hunted. 

The Swannanoa Hunt Club of Ashe- 
ville, N.C., affords sport to Asheville's win- 
ter visitors. It has a pretty club-house. 
The local foxes about Asheville know the 
resources of the country too well to afford 
adequate sport; but by importing stranger 
foxes, and turning them loose, the club 
gets very good runs. 

Still farther south, at Aiken, S.C., Mr. 
Hitchcock's hounds help make life pleas- 
ant to refugees from a Northern winter. 
In his Northern home, near Westbury, 
Long Island, Mr. Hitchcock is one of the 

302 



Country Clubs and Hunt Clubs in America 




Cross Cottntry in the Genesee Valley. 
The Genesee Hunt Club. 



pillars of sport in the Meadowbrook Club. 
His hunting at Aiken is different from 
most other American fox-hunting. The 
country is rough, the woodland extensive, 
and the hounds are less under the hunts- 
man's eye, and more on their own respon- 
sibility, than in the Northern hunting. 
After thorough experiment, Mr. Hitch- 
cock has found the American hound better 
adapted to his use than English hounds, 
and has now a strong pack of modern 
American fox-hounds, about thirty couple, 
which he hunts all winter. His pack 
meets from December to May, three times 
a week at daylight, and goes out with 



303 



Country Clubs and Hunt Clubs in A merica 

fifteen or twenty riders in the field. The 
fences about Aiken are rail-fences when 
there are any, but much of the country is 
not enclosed. 

Except for the somewhat nebulous Aga- 
wam Hunt Club of Narragansett, the sole 
hunting stronghold of New England seems 
to be the seat of the Myopia Club, started 
in 1882 at Hamilton, some twenty miles 
north of Boston. It has a farm sparsely 
planted with golf-holes, and a comfortable 
club-house, which is the home of some of 
the members in the summer months, and 
is a centre of activities all summer long 
for golf enthusiasts and polo-players. The 
Myopias have tried fox-hunting, but found 
it impracticable, or at least too inconve- 
nient, and have fallen back on drag-hunt- 
ing as better suited for their circumstances. 
Their hunting begins early in September, 
and lasts three months. They have about 
twenty-five couple of hounds of British 
descent, which meet three times a week, 
and scour the country for twenty miles 
around. Their fields vary from fifteen to 
twenty-five riders. Their country is a 
country of stone walls three feet high and 
upward ; and the obstacles being reasonably 
low, their runs are tolerably fast. Most of 
the Myopia huntermen are sons of toil, 

3°4 



Country Clubs and Hunt Clubs in America 



doing business in Boston, and they adjust 
their sport to the more imperative demands 
of their more serious occupations. 

In the Genesee Valley, in Livingston 
County, New York, there has been an or- 
ganized hunt for nearly twenty years, the 
fame of which is exuberant among hunting 
Americans. Its headquarters are at Gene- 
seo, the county town of Livingston County, 




Meet of the Meadowbrook Hunt at Mr. Theodore Roosevelt 's house, 
Oyster Bay, Long Island. 

305 



Country Clubs and Hunt Clubs in America 

and the home of Mr. W. A. Wadsworth, 
M. F. H. Mr. Wadsworth and other 
members of his family, and other families, 
are owners of large landed estates in the 
Genesee Valley, and actually live, for most 
of the year, on or near their land. This 
makes the conditions of existence in the 
neighborhood of Geneseo different from 
those that ordinarily obtain in American 
farming country, which, as a rule, in the 
North at least, is owned in small lots by 
the actual cultivators of the soil. The 
Genesee Valley hunting is an indigenous 
growth, begun for the amusement of resi- 
dents of the valley, conducted from the 
time of its organization at the cost and 
under the direction of the present M. F. H. 
The club has an organization, but its dues 
are nominal and it has no club-house. Mr. 
Wadsworth keeps up the pack, and mounts 
and pays the huntsmen and whips. Such 
reputation as the hunt enjoys is due first 
to him and to the durable and rational 
quality of his devotion to sport. The 
hunt finds other good backers in the 
farmers of the valley, in the owners of 
country places who spend a large part of 
the year there, and in earnest sportsmen 
from Buffalo, Batavia, Rochester, New 
York, Chicago, and other places, who hunt 

306 



Country Clubs and Hu?ii Chibs in A merica 



regularly once or twice a week in the 
season. It also attracts visitors, who come 
in increasing numbers to get a taste of the 
quality of its entertainment. The hunting 
country is a strip of farm and woodland, 
twenty miles long or thereabouts, and from 
four to eight miles wide, through which 
flows the Genesee River. The country is 
beautiful ; the enclosures are large ; the 
fencing includes almost all varieties of rail, 
board, and picket fences. Horse-raising 
is one of the industries of the district, and 
the huntermen are well mounted. The 
hounds of the Genesee Valley Hunt hunt 
wild foxes three times a week from the lat- 
ter part of September until it gets too cold, 
which usually happens about Christmas, 
Some drag-hunting was done last fall with 
a small pack set apart for that purpose; 
but drag-hunting is regarded in Geneseo 
as a subsidiary sport, to be winked at and 
endured in the present state of human 
weakness, but hardly to be countenanced, 
much less encouraged. Mr. Wadsworth's 
hounds are either imported or of English 
stock, and from twenty to thirty couple of 
them are always ready for work. The 
field of riders varies from twenty to fifty; 
and, though the numbers dwindle some- 
what as the season advances, the hounds 

307 



Country Clubs and Hunt Clubs in A: 




A Meet of the 



have a strong following as long as the 
hunting lasts. The country is too exten- 
sive to admit of earth-stopping, and the 
foxes usually get away, though eight or 
ten are killed every year ; but the hounds 
usually find, good runs are the rule, and 
notable runs are common. 

The best hunting in the Genesee Val- 
ley is in November and December. The 
prettiest and gayest hunting is in October, 

308 



Country Clubs and Hunt Clubs in America 




Rockaivay Hunt Club. 

To be jogging after Mr. Wadsworth's pack 
about eleven o'clock on a Saturday late in 
October, is to be riding through a charm- 
ing valley at a delightful time of year, 
with every prospect of five or six hours of 
happiness. On such a Saturday in 1894 
the meet was at a village some eight miles 
from the kennels. It was a pretty village, 
the day was a perfect October day, and 
the meet of hounds and horsemen, of 



509 



Country Clubs and Hunt Clubs in America 

ladies in carts and traps and on hunters, 
of participants and well-wishers and dis- 
interested spectators, was a stimulating and 
cheerful sight. Then came the leisurely 
riding across country from covert to covert, 
through woods and down into gullies, over 
fences at one's leisure at the easiest place, 
all the time in the sunshine, with the brisk 
air making one younger with every breath 
of it, and the hounds working industri- 
ously, and keeping every observer's expec- 
tation primed. 

And when presently, after an hour or 
more of progressive investigation, the 
hounds found and were off, what a stir 
and enlivenment, as the field broke into a 
gallop, and streamed off across country, 
over field and stream and fence and road, 
every emulous hunterman eager to better 
his place, every tyro shadowing his chosen 
pilot as closely as he dared, every bold and 
experienced rider speculating as he rides 
on the next turn of the pack, with a keen 
scrutiny as he rises at one fence for the 
weak place in the next one. When there 
is a weak spot or a low place, what a com- 
fort to have it come conveniently into one's 
line ! When there is none, but the rails 
rise high and strong across the field, what 
joy, when one has tightened one's rein 

310 



Country Clubs and Hunt Clubs in America 

and made at them, to have one's horse 
actually clear them, and then to glance 
back and see the little group of less fortu- 
nate riders on the farther side ! It is con- 
ceivable that there are men who like to 
jump high fences; but doubtless the more 
common experience is, that a five-foot fence 
affords a delightful sensation after one is 
about three-quarters over it, but that up 
to that point it is a solemn 
and unwelcome obstacle, 
that cannot be dodged 
without loss and regret. 

Do you suppose any sin- 
cere person really regrets it 
when there is a check after The Button of the Mon- 

m treat Club— the Oldest 

even three or four miles of organized Hunt c tub 
hard galloping ? To stop 
while the hounds are running is misery, 
of course ; but to pull up with one's bones 
all whole and one's credit saved, — how 
can any hunterman of sound discretion re- 
gret that ? 

The day I speak of, the fox got away; 
but what a good and satisfying day it was, 
and how proud that little fox should have 
been to have made so much sport for so 
many honest folks at such comparatively in- 
significant inconvenience to himself ! The 
lady who fell off got on again ; the man 




Country Clubs and Hiuit Clubs in America 



m 




Taking the Hoioids out for Exercise. The Genesee Hunt Club. 



who got the spectacular cropper wasn't 
hurt. The competent surgeon who usu- 
ally rides in the first flight in the Genesee 
Valley runs got his exercise that day with- 
out ever getting off his mare, except to 
eat his lunch. And yet there are people 
who shudder at the hazards of fox-hunt- 
ing, and grieve that sons of solicitous 
mothers, and fathers of dependent fami- 
lies, should venture their necks in such a 
sport ! 

Of the Canadian hunts, the chief is the 
Montreal Hunt, started as long ago as 
1826, and probably the oldest organized 



312 



Country Chios and Hunt Clubs in America 

hunt club in America. Its kennels and 
club-house are in Montreal. Its hunting 
country lies in the islands of Montreal, 
Jesus, and Bizard, good farming country, 
with timber fences, stonewalls, and ditches. 
The members get to the meets by train or 
otherwise, according to the distance. The 
hounds meet three times a week at eleven 
a.m., from the middle of August to the 
end of November. There is an earth- 
stopper among the club servants, a conse- 
quence of which is that eight or ten brace 
of foxes are killed during the season. The 
club membership is about one hundred, 
and the dues of $50 a year help to main- 
tain the pack. The present master is Mr. 
H. Montague Allan. 

The London (Ontario) Hunt, another 
strong club with a large membership and 
a suburban club-house, dates from 1885. 
It has a pack of a dozen couples, and usu- 
ally finds the toothless and insensate anise- 
seed bag more convenient for its pursuit 
than the evasive fox. Under the master- 
ship of Mr. Adam Beck, it sometimes 
takes its hounds across the Detroit River, 
and makes a field-day for the riding popu- 
lation of Detroit. 

Toronto, the horse-dealing centre of 
Canada, has its hunt, of course ; a drag- 

313 



Country Clubs and Hunt Clubs in A merica 




The Pack of the 
Myopia Hunt 
Club. 



hunt which combines the accomplishment 
of business ends with the pursuit of pleas- 
ure. Fifteen couple make up the present 
pack of the Toronto hounds, and Mr. F. 
H. Beardmore has them out three times a 
week during the short Canadian season. 

With these twenty-five hunt clubs, — 
almost all of them started within twenty 
years, and most of them much younger, — 
it will be seen that hunting, as an Ameri- 
can sport, has made a vigorous start, and 
promises to make a permanent and grow- 
ing impression on the habits of our people. 

314 



Cotmtry Clubs and Htmt Clubs in A merica 

Once the idea of the possibility of hunting 
is disseminated, the rest will take care of 
itself, and clubs will spring up where there 
is a demand for them. Chicago has every- 
thing that it wants. It will want hunting 
presently, and will surely get it. St. Louis, 
which already has a vigorous country club, 
has only a short step farther to take. Wher- 




Where the Dogs are Kept. The Genesee Hunt Club, Genesee, N. Y. 
315 



Country Chibs and Hunt Clubs in A merka 




The Myopia Club House at Hamilton, Mass. 

ever there is wealth there will be leisure. 
Wherever there is wealth and leisure the 
horse will multiply in the land, and there 
will be hardy men who will dare to ride 
on his back. Once horse-riding becomes 
a habit in a highly civilized American com- 
munity, we may expect hunting to follow. 
That is in part because hunting is a grow- 
ing fashion, but much more because it is a 
sport of great merit, which is bound to win 
its own way wherever a chance is given to 
it. As one of the most picturesque of 
sports, it should be welcomed for the, vari- 
ety and color it brings to American life. 
Wherever there is hunting there are red 
coats — either to ride in or dine in — stee- 
plechases, horse-shows, hunt-balls, polo- 
316 



Country Clubs and Hunt Clubs in A nierlca 

playing, and much pomp and panoply of 
pleasure ; all of which is highly decorative, 
and has a spectacular value, which affects 
the existence of thousands of people whose 
participation in it is confined to the not 
unimportant office of looking on. Hunt- 
ing is virile, and it is wholesome. Men 
get hurt in it sometimes, but seldom very 
seriously; and many men get materially 
benefited. 

Moreover, the money spent in hunting 
is spent in our own country, and goes di- 
rectly into the pockets of Americans who 
need it. Whatever brightens country life, 
and checks the tendency of the cities to 
swallow up all the money, and monopo- 
lize all the fun, is a benefit. Whatever 
sport induces well-to-do Americans to dis- 
burse their surpluses in their own land, 
among their brethren, instead of flocking 
for that purpose to Europe, is also a bene- 
fit, and one the promotion of which no 
true patriot will care to hinder. Let us 
have as much of our fun at home as we 
can; and let us think twice before we sniff 
at any development of wholesome sport 
that helps to make that possible. Some 
men who hunt get health and strength 
from it, which they expend in activities 
more directly useful. Encourage them in 

3*7 



Country Clubs and Hunt Clubs in America 



their hunting, for it does them good. 
Other men get less benefit ; but their sup- 
port helps to keep hunting alive, and their 
money is useful to the farmers, grooms, 
innkeepers, and surgeons, veterinary and 
otherwise, who have honestly earned it. 
Encourage them, too, for they are good 
for sport. Still other men hunt who, if 
critically considered, may be estimated to 
be good for little else. Of these it may be 
said, that though they may not be indis- 
pensable to sport, at least if they were not 
hunting they would probably be less inno- 
cently occupied. Encourage these also ; 
for when they are hunting they are out of 
mischief, and, so far as lies in them, are 
fulfilling their mission in life. 




Kennels of the Myopia Hunt Club. 

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